Precision mapping of snail habitat provides a powerful indicator of human schistosomiasis transmission.

ABSTRACT: Recently, the World Health Organization recognized that efforts to interrupt schistosomiasis transmission through mass drug administration have been ineffective in some regions; one of their new recommended strategies for global schistosomiasis control emphasizes targeting the freshwater snails that transmit schistosome parasites. We sought to identify robust indicators that would enable precision targeting of these snails. At the site of the world's largest recorded schistosomiasis epidemic-the Lower Senegal River Basin in Senegal-intensive sampling revealed positive relationships between intermediate host snails (abundance, density, and prevalence) and human urogenital schistosomiasis reinfection (prevalence and intensity in schoolchildren after drug administration). However, we also fou

SUBMITTER: Wood CL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6859407 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature