The potential significance to human health associated with the establishment of the snail Melanoides tuberculata in New Zealand.
The thiarid Melanoides tuberculata (Müller, 1774) (Gastropoda: Prosobranchia: Thiaridae) is considered to be invasive and have become established in numerous countries outside its native range. This species was discovered in the wild for the first time in New Zealand in 2001, when a population was found in a geothermally warmed stream at Golden Springs near Taupo. M. tuberculata is of human health significance as the intermediate host of a number of trematode parasites. Uncertainties hinder an accurate assessment of the risks to human health occasioned by this species in New Zealand, but it is theoretically possible that a number of parasites could become established in this country in association with M. tuberculata. However, their distribution would be potentially limited, as M. tuberculata is unlikely to find suitable habitats in New Zealand outside certain geothermally warmed water habitats.
Derraik
José G B
JG
Ecology and Health Research Group, Wellington School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Otago, Wellington, New Zealand. derraik@gmail.com
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000818:Animals; D017753:Ecosystem; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D006801:Humans; D009520:New Zealand; D011634:Public Health; D012908:Snails / Q000469:parasitology*