The population density of Lymnaea columella (Say, 1817) (Mollusca, Lymnaeidae) an intermediate host of Fasciola hepatica (Linnaeus, 1758), in the Caparaó microregion, ES, Brazil

Abstract

The aim of this study was to monitor the population density of Lymnaea columella, an intermediate host of Fasciola hepatica, in various aquatic habitats and in drinking water in the area of the Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Espírito Santo, on Caparaó Microregion, municipality of Alegre, state of Espírito Santo, Brazil. Monthly samplings were performed at certain points between drainage areas and drinking water in cattle and goat production systems during the years 2010 to 2013. The mean temperature, precipitation and the frequency of samples of L. columella were analysed graphically according the monthly average during the study period. A total of 2,038 molluscs were collected, 1558 of which were L. columella, that predominated in all sampled points. The highest average of specimens observed for L. columella was in the years 2010 and 2013 (51.0), and occurred decreased in 2011 (19.8). The temperature and precipitation averaged is 23.7 °C and 141 mm/year, respectively. Rainfall peak occurred in March (2011, 2013) and November (2012, during these periods the population of L. columella growth. There was no significant difference in the relationship between the specimens observed with seasons (dry-wet), thus the population of L. columella remained stable and can be found throughout the year.

Correlation between climate data and land altitude for Fasciola hepatica infection in cattle in Santa Catarina, Brazil

“…In another study carried out from 2010 to 2013 in Espirito Santo, reported two annual peaks of L. columella population. The increase in snail numbers was observed in March (2011 and and in November (2012), when precipitation was above the average (200 mm/year) -suggesting an increase in disease transmission (D'Almeida et al, 2016). Even though pluviosity is an indispensable condition for F. hepatica's life cycle, we demonstrate that the accumulated rain in SC was above the threshold to threaten the prevalence of the disease.…”

Geography and ecology of invasive Pseudosuccinea columella (Gastropoda: Lymnaeidae) and implications in the transmission of Fasciola species (Digenea: Fasciolidae) – a review

“…There were no studies that were conducted during the winter season only. Reviewed studies showed that P. columella snails were collected in abundance during the summer (rainy) season (Cardoso et al, 2006;Bargues et al, 2011;Prepelitchi et al, 2011;D'Almeida et al, 2016) as compared to the winter season (Bargues et al, 2011;Prepelitchi et al, 2011;D'Almeida et al, 2016). Results also showed that South American countries recorded the highest number of collected P. columella specimens globally involving field studies.…”

“…The overall prevalence of P. columella infected with Fasciola spp. varied from 0 to 100%, the lowest (0%) recorded in Brazil (Cardoso et al, 2006;D'Almeida et al, 2016), Argentina (Davies et al, 2014) and Colombia (Pereira et al, 2020), and the highest (100%) recorded in South Africa , Uruguay (Magalhães et al, 2004) and France (Pointier et al, 2007). Pseudosuccinea columella/Fasciola spp.…”

“…No studies are reported on experimental F. gigantica intra-P. columella infections. Pseudosuccinea columella naturally infected with F. hepatica had a prevalence between 0 and 51.25%, with no infections documented in Brazil (Cardoso et al, 2006;D'Almeida et al, 2016), Argentina (Davies et al, 2014) and Colombia (Pereira et al, 2020), and a high infection rate of 51.25% was documented in Argentina (Cucher et al, 2006). The prevalence range for F. gigantica intra-P. columella natural infections was reported to be between 13.18 and 100% in Egypt (Grabner et al, 2014) and South Africa (Malatji & Mukaratirwa, 2019), respectively.…”

One Health initiative in the Bolivian Altiplano human fascioliasis hyperendemic area: Lymnaeid biology, population dynamics, microecology and climatic factor influences

“…Interestingly, more than one Galba/Fossaria species co-exist in other human endemic areas: G. truncatula, L. schirazensis and L. neotropica in Cajamarca, Peru (Bargues et al, 2012); L. cousini, L. neotropica, L. schirazensis and L. cubensis in Ecuador (Bargues et al, 2011b;Villavicencio et al, 2019); G. truncatula, L. cubensis and L. schirazensis in Venezuela (Bargues et al, 2011a); L. neotropica and L. viator in Argentina (Bargues et al, 2016); and G. truncatula and L. viator in Chile (Artigas et al, 2011). This high altitude scenario differs from fascioliasis in the lowlands, where fascioliasis is a veterinary problem in great part linked to the presence of a lymnaeid vector species not belonging to the Galba/Fossaria group as Pseudosuccinea columella, and human infection only appears in isolated cases, such as in Brazil (Maure et al, 1998;D'Almeida et al, 2016) and Uruguay (Bargues et al, 2017).…”