Molecular xenomonitoring of Schistosoma mansoni infections in Biomphalaria choanomphala at Lake Victoria, East Africa: Assessing roles of abiotic and biotic factors.

Lake Victoria is a well-known hot spot for intestinal schistosomiasis, caused by infection with the trematode Schistosoma mansoni. The snail intermediate hosts of this parasite are Biomphalaria snails, with Biomphalaria choanomphala being the predominant intermediate host within Lake Victoria. The prevalence of S.

A new diagnostic technique for identifying Angiostrongylus spp. larvae in intermediate snail species by examining the buccal cavity.

Background: Angiostrongyliasis is a zoonotic parasitic disease caused by the rat lungworm Angiostrongylus cantonensis. The intermediate hosts of A. cantonensis are gastropods, and snail species such as Pomacea canaliculata play a key role in the transmission of human angiostrongyliasis.

Differentiation of Bulinus senegalensis and Bulinus forskalii Snails in West Africa Using Morphometric Analysis.

Purpose: Accurate identification of medically important intermediate host and vector species is crucial for understanding disease transmission and control. Identifying Bulinus snails which act as intermediate host species for the transmission of schistosomiasis is typically undertaken using conchological and genital morphology as well as molecular methods.

Methods: Here, a landmark-based morphometric analysis of shell morphology was undertaken to determine its utility to distinguish the closely related and morphologically similar sister species Bulinus senegalensis and Bulinus forskalii.

Seasonal patterns of Schistosoma mansoni infection within Biomphalaria snails at the Ugandan shorelines of Lake Albert and Lake Victoria.

Intestinal schistosomiasis is hyperendemic in many sub-Saharan African countries. In Uganda, it is endemic at both Lake Albert (LA) and Lake Victoria (LV) and caused by S. mansoni that uses Biomphalaria snails as obligatory intermediate snail hosts.

Comparing PCR techniques against conventional cercarial shedding methods for detecting Schistosoma mansoni infection in Biomphalaria snails.

The detection of Schistosoma mansoni infection in both its intermediate (snail) and definitive (human) hosts is useful in providing information on the transmission of schistosomiasis. Three pairs of previously designed PCR primers (SM, SM & ND5) used for the detection of S. mansoni infection were tested.