title: Natural and human induced factors influencing the abundance of Schistosoma host snails in Zambia.
abstract: Schistosomiasis remains a global public health problem affecting about 240 million people. In Zambia, 2 million are infected while 3 million live with the risk of getting infected. Research and interventions relating to schistosomiasis are mainly linked to disease epidemiology. Malacological and ecological aspects of the disease are superficially understood. Developing effective control measures requires an understanding of interacting environmental and socioeconomic factors of host snails vis-a-vis schistosomiasis. Therefore, the present work involved collecting social and environmental data in a large field study in two zones in Zambia that are different in terms of temperature and rainfall amounts. Social data collected through questionnaires included demographic, educational and knowledge of schistosomiasis disease dynamics. Environmental data included physicochemical factors, aquatic plants and snails. Gender (P < 0.001) significantly influences livelihood strategies, while age (P = 0.069) and level of education (P = 0.086) have a moderate influence in zone I. In zone III, none of these factors (age, P = 0.378; gender, P = 0.311; education, P = 0.553) play a significant role. Environmental parameters explained 43 and 41 % variation in species composition for zones I and III, respectively. Most respondents' (52 %, 87 %) perception is that there are more cases of bilharzia in hot season than in other seasons (rainy season 23 %, 7 %; cold season 8 %, 0 % and year round 17 %, 6 %) for zone I and zone III, respectively.
authors.affiliation: Department of Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management, Wageningen University and Research Centre, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands. concillia.monde@wur.nl.|Department of Zoology and Aquatic Sciences, Copperbelt University, P.O. Box 21692, Jambo Drive, Riverside, Kitwe, Zambia. concillia.monde@wur.nl.
authors.forename: Concillia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Monde
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Copperbelt University, P.O Box 21692, Jambo Drive, Riverside, Kitwe, Zambia.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Syampungani
authors.affiliation: Department of Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management, Wageningen University and Research Centre, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands.|Alterra, Wageningen University and Research Centre, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Paul J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: van den Brink
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003710:Demography; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D011157:Population Dynamics; D011891:Rain; D012548:Schistosoma haematobium / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D012552:Schistosomiasis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D012621:Seasons; D012908:Snails / Q000254:growth & development / Q000469:parasitology; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013696:Temperature; D015024:Zambia
keywords: Epidemiology; Host snails; Malacological; Schistosomiasis