title: The apple snail Pomacea canaliculata, a novel vector of the rat lungworm, Angiostrongylus cantonensis: its introduction, spread, and control in China.
abstract: The freshwater apple snail Pomacea canaliculata was introduced to Taiwan then to mainland China in the early 1980s from Argentina, its native region, for the purpose of aquaculture. Because of the lack of natural enemies and its tolerance of a wide range of environmental conditions, both its abundance and distribution have dramatically increased and it has become a harmful species to local agriculture and other native species in many areas of China. Unfortunately, the snail also acts as an intermediate host of Angiostrongylus cantonensis, and has been implicated in transfer of the parasite to people, resulting in angiostrongyliasis manifested as eosinophilic meningitis. Efforts to prevent its further spread and population expansion were initiated many years ago, including the use of chemicals and biological control agents to control the snail.
authors.affiliation: Center for Parasitic Organisms, State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China. lssytb@mail.sysu.edu.cn
authors.forename: Ting-Bao
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Zhong-Dao
authors.initials: ZD
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Zhao-Rong
authors.initials: ZR
authors.lastname: Lun
mesh_terms: D017185:Angiostrongylus cantonensis / Q000254:growth & development*; D063147:Animal Distribution; D000818:Animals; D061046:Biological Control Agents; D002681:China; D004199:Disease Vectors; D008018:Life Cycle Stages; D008975:Molluscacides; D012908:Snails / Q000469:parasitology
chemical_list: D061046:Biological Control Agents; D008975:Molluscacides
keywords: Angiostrongyliasis; Apple snail; China; Control; Eosinophilic meningitis; Host; Introduced species; Nematode; Parasite; Pest; Pomacea canaliculata
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