Effects of Land-Use and Environmental Factors on Snail Distribution and Trematode Infection in Ethiopia

Abstract

Freshwater snails are intermediate hosts for several snail-borne diseases affecting humans and animals. Understanding the distribution of snail intermediate hosts and their infection status is very important to plan and implement effective disease prevention and control interventions. In this study, we determined the abundance, distribution, and trematode infection status of freshwater snails in two agro-ecological zones of Ethiopia. We sampled snails from 13 observation sites and examined them for trematode infections using a natural cercarial shedding method. A redundancy analysis (RDA) was used to examine the relationship between snail abundance and environmental variables. Overall, a total of 615 snails belonging to three species were identified. Lymnea natalensis and Bulinus globosus were the dominant snail species, representing 41% and 40% of the total collection, respectively. About one-third of the total snail population (33%) shed cercariae. The cercariae species recorded were Xiphidiocercaria, Brevifurcate apharyngeate distome (BAD), Echinostome, and Fasciola. Snail species were found in high abundance in aquatic habitats located in the agricultural landscape. Therefore, land-use planning and protection of aquatic habitats from uncontrolled human activities and pollution can be considered as important strategies to prevent and control the spread of snail-borne diseases in the region.

Spatiotemporal and seasonal transmission dynamics of Schistosoma haematobium and snail infectivity in Ase River catchment, Delta State, Nigeria

“…Previous studies have established the impact of environmental factors such as vegetation, water quality, and human water contact pattern on snail abundance and infectivity (Posa and Sodhi, 2006;Mereta et al, 2023). The differences in transmission potential between years indicate the in uence of environmental factors and population dynamics of the snail intermediate hosts (Nwoko et al, 2022a).…”

High prevalence of natural infection by the ruminant blood fluke Schistosoma spindale in the intermediate snail host Indoplanorbis exustus in Uttaradit, Northern Thailand

“…Understanding cercarial infection in snails is necessary to estimate the risk of trematode infectious diseases in both animals and humans in the endemic area. These data may contribute to the use of effective prevention measures and control of trematode infections in the future [ 12 ].…”