Diversity and cercarial shedding of malaco fauna collected from water bodies of Ratnagiri district, Maharashtra

Schistosome Infections: An Indian Perspective

“…Among nine species of snails I.exustus was most common. Although previously Gadgilet al had reported F. tenuis to be the intermediate host for human schistosome species of Gimvi village, only I. exustus and L.luteola snails were found to have schistosome infection in that region [40]. The status of human schistosomiasis has been an issue of great controversy.…”

“…Agarwal et al, have reported incidence of cercarial rash in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh which was unrecognized and misinterpreted by health practitioners and local people [39]. In another study, water bodies of five selected locations of Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra were screened to investigate the occurrence of snails and cercaria [40]. Among nine species of snails I.exustus was most common.…”

Schistosomes and Schistosomiasis in South Asia

“…The village Gimvi and nearby areas of Ratnagiri district were revisited by Devi and Jauhari in April-May 2006 for collecting freshwater snails from rivers, streams, rice fi elds, and ponds to examine for presence of trematode cercariae (Devi and Jauhari 2008 ) . In all, nine snail species of seven families were collected, viz., I. exustus ( n = 141), L. luteola f. ovalis ( n = 120), L. acuminata f. patula ( n = 8), Thiara (Melanoides) tuberculat a ( n = 37), Bellamyia bengalensis ( n = 5), B. dissimilis ( n = 13), Paludomus obesus ( n = 5), Ferrissia tenuis ( n = 21), and Pila globosa ( n = 4).…”

“…With regard to schistosome species encountered in the two snail species, Devi and Jauhari ( 2008 ) have concluded " Schistosoma spindale and S. incognitum were the respective parasites of the two snail species." This identi fi cation is relied on morphological grounds of the cercariae and also based on observations from Jabalpur where these two snail species are responsible for spread of these two schistosome species (Mishra and Agrawal 1998 ; .…”

“…This identi fi cation is relied on morphological grounds of the cercariae and also based on observations from Jabalpur where these two snail species are responsible for spread of these two schistosome species (Mishra and Agrawal 1998 ; . However, as these two snail species are transmitting fi ve mammalian schistosome species in India, it is possible that the cercariae recovered by Devi and Jauhari ( 2008 ) might be from different schistosome species and only a detailed cercarial study would have con fi rmed this presumption. Nevertheless, this work re fl ects an impediment in advancement of research to consider I. exustus or L. luteola as the snail species responsible for transmitting, exclusively, animal schistosomes in India.…”