title: Compatibility of Schistosoma japonicum from the hilly region and Oncomelania hupensis hupensis from the marshland region within Anhui, China.
abstract: Schistosome japonicum remains one main public concern in China. This is exemplified in the hilly region in Anhui Province, where rodents have served as reservoirs for the parasite and no effective intervention could target such wild animals. The closer relationship between the hilly region and the near marshland induces the worry of spread of the hill parasite to the marshland region. Therefore, the level of snail-parasite compatibility between the hill parasite and snail populations from the Yangtze River valley was investigated. The results of this study demonstrated that both the hill (Shitai, Anhui) and the marshland (Wuxi, Jiangsu) strains of parasite were more infective to the marshland strains of snail (Zongyang and Hexian, Anhui) than to the hill strain of snail (Shitai, Anhui). When snails were individually exposed to one single miracidium, the longest prepatent period for cercarial development was observed in the combination of Shitai schistosome/Shitai snail. A nocturnal cercarial emergence pattern was observed for the hill parasite, either harbored in the hill or the marshland strain of snails. The results suggested a high compatibility between the marshland strains of snail and both the hill and the marshland strains of parasite. This would have practical implications. Moreover, the fact of the lower compatible relationship between the hill parasite and its local intermediate hosts warranted more studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Statistics, School of Public Health, Soochow University, 215123, Suzhou, China.
authors.forename: Chen-Zhong
authors.initials: CZ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Da-Bing
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Cheng-Xiang
authors.initials: CX
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yuan-Meng
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Chao-Rong
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Bian
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Su
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild; D058487:Cercaria; D002681:China; D004197:Disease Reservoirs; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D008099:Liver / Q000469:parasitology; D051379:Mice; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR; D045483:Rivers; D012549:Schistosoma japonicum / Q000502:physiology*; D012554:Schistosomiasis japonica / Q000469:parasitology / Q000635:transmission; D012908:Snails / Q000469:parasitology*; D053833:Wetlands