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Schistosoma japonicum remains highly endemic in many counties in China and has recently re-emerged, to a large extent, in previously controlled areas. To test the hypothesis that small rodents and less agriculturally important domestic animals such as dogs and cats may play an important role in the transmission and potential re-emergence of this disease, an annual investigation of S. japonicum among humans, domestic animals and rodents, combined with detailed surveys of the snail intermediate host, was performed across 3 marshland villages and 3 hilly villages in Anhui province of China over 2 consecutive years. The highest infection prevalence and intensity observed across all mammals was in rodents in the hilly region; while in the marshland, bovines were suspected as the main reservoirs. However, relatively high infection prevalence levels were also found in dogs and cats in both regions. Such results may have implications for the current human- and bovine-oriented control policy for this medically and veterinarily important disease, particularly within the hilly regions of mainland China.

Original publication

DOI

10.1017/s003118200999103x

Type

Journal article

Journal

Parasitology

Publication Date

01/2010

Volume

137

Pages

99 - 110

Addresses

Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College, Norfolk Place, London W2 1PG, UK. dabing.lu@imperial.ac.uk

Keywords

Animals, Animals, Domestic, Animals, Wild, Cattle, Dogs, Cats, Humans, Rodentia, Schistosoma japonicum, Snails, Schistosomiasis japonica, Parasite Egg Count, Prevalence, Longitudinal Studies, Ecosystem, Disease Reservoirs, China