Praziquantel efficacy against Brachylaima sp. metacercariae (Trematoda: Brachylaimidae) parasitizing the edible landsnail Cornu aspersum and its HPLC-MS/MS residue determination

Nematodes and trematodes associated with terrestrial gastropods in Nottingham, England

“…There are over 60 described species, with Brachylaima being found in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania (Nasir & Rodriguez, 1966; Wheeler et al , 1989; Richards et al , 1995; Awharitoma et al , 2003; Butcher & Grove, 2005; Richardson & Campo, 2005; Gállego et al , 2014; Gracenea & Gállego, 2017; Nakao et al , 2017; Gérard et al , 2020; Termizi & Him, 2021). Brachylaima cribbi is the only documented species capable of infecting humans (Butcher & Grove, 2001) with brachylaimiasis first documented in 1996, with 13 more cases in the subsequent decades after its discovery, all occurring in Australia (Butcher et al , 1996; Gállego & Gracenea, 2015). Brachylaimiasis causes diarrhoea, abdominal pain, anorexia, eosinophilia and weight loss (or decreased weight gain) in infected humans, with a predicted mortality rate of 5–10% in untreated patients (Gállego & Gracenea, 2015).…”

“…Brachylaima cribbi is the only documented species capable of infecting humans (Butcher & Grove, 2001) with brachylaimiasis first documented in 1996, with 13 more cases in the subsequent decades after its discovery, all occurring in Australia (Butcher et al , 1996; Gállego & Gracenea, 2015). Brachylaimiasis causes diarrhoea, abdominal pain, anorexia, eosinophilia and weight loss (or decreased weight gain) in infected humans, with a predicted mortality rate of 5–10% in untreated patients (Gállego & Gracenea, 2015). Transmission is typically from either the consumption of undercooked land snails (such as Cornu aspersum ) infected with metacercariae, or the unintentional consumption of infected gastropod slime/faeces/corpse-contaminated fruits and vegetables (Butcher & Grove, 2001).…”

“…Spain, France, Portugal and Belgium are the biggest importers of snails, with approximately 17 million kilograms of snails being imported as a whole from 2020–2021 (United Nations, 2022). Concerns about the rates of Brachylaima infection in C. aspersum at farms and markets has already been raised in France and Spain (Gállego & Gracenea, 2015; Gracenea & Gállego, 2017; Gérard et al , 2020). It is unknown what effect non- B. cribbi species have on public health as there are no studies exploring the possibility of brachylaimiasis caused by European Brachylaima species.…”

Praziquantel use in aquaculture – Current status and emerging issues

“…on common carp is reduced at PZQ concentrations greater than 2.5 mg/L after exposure for 48 h ( Hoai and Van, 2014 ), while some estuarine snail species infected with trematodes have been reported to die after 10 days exposure to 0.89 mg/L ( Moser et al, 1986 ). Alternatively, PZQ is well tolerated by the snail Cornu aspersum upon exposure to 1.8 mg per snail (equivalent to approximately 210 mg/kg/BW) to treat Brachylaima metacercariae ( Gallego and Gracenea, 2015 ) and Lunestad et al (2015) reported no toxic effects against a variety of marine bottom-dwelling organisms such as mussels, snails, crustaceans or polychaetes. Additionally, PZQ shows very low toxicity against the dung beetle Aphodius constans , with an LC50 > 1000 mg/kg, although larvae may change colour following exposure at high concentrations ( Hempel et al, 2006 ).…”