Techniques for estimating densities of Bulinus truncatus rohlfsi and its horizontal distribution in Volta Lake, Ghana. (1/36)

Bulinus truncatus rohlfsi is the intermediate host of urinary schistosomiasis, which is highly endemic in the man-made Volta Lake. In 1971, a WHO/UNDP schistosomiasis project was established in the Pawmpawm branch and part of the Afram branch of Volta Lake. Malacological findings of the preliminary phase indicated that the snails were distributed in the littoral zone of the lake, and that this distribution was correlated with the presence of vegetation, especially Ceratophyllum. Transmission nearly always occurred in "water contact sites", i.e., places where people come into contact with water.A snail-sampling technique with palm-leaf mats was developed and standardized after it had been shown in sensitivity trials to compare favourably with a modified version of the "man-time" sampling method, in which the number of snails collected per man-hour is recorded. It is recommended that both these methods should be used to conduct ecological studies of B. rohlfsi in water contact sites.  (+info)

A large-scale snail control trial with trifenmorph in the Gezira irrigation scheme, Sudan. (2/36)

A large-scale field trial was carried out during December 1973 to assess the effect of trifenmorph on Bulinus truncatus and Biomphalaria pfeifferi in 379 000 feddans ( approximately 159 000 ha) of the Gezira irrigation system in the Sudan. The commercial formulation used (Frescon) is an emulsifiable concentrate containing 16.5% trifenmorph. Five dispensers were used to add the commercial product to the water continuously for 7.5 days; 18 121 litres were used to treat 28.4 million m(3) of water. In addition, each minor canal was hand-sprayed from the tail to 300 m upstream of the last open field outlet pipe; 360 litres of the commercial formulation were used for this operation.A minimum concentration of 0.035 mg trifenmorph per litre of water was produced at the head of each minor canal. The use of caged snails showed that a concentration as low as 0.015 mg/litre was sufficient to produce 100% mortality in B. truncatus in 7.5 days; this is equivalent to a concentration x time product of 0.12 mg/litre days.  (+info)

Toxic activities of the plant Jatropha curcas against intermediate snail hosts and larvae of schistosomes. (3/36)

The aim of studies on plant molluscicides is to complement methods for controlling snails acting as intermediate hosts of schistosomes. We report on the toxic activity of extracts from Jatropha curcas L. (Euphorbiaceae) against snails transmitting Schistosoma mansoni and S. haematobium. We studied different extracts' effects on infectious larvae, cercariae and miracidia of S. mansoni. Compared to aqueous extract, methanol extract showed the highest toxicity against all tested organisms with LC100-values of 25 p.p.m. for cercariae and the snail Biomphalaria glabrata and 1 p.p.m. for the snails Bulinus truncatus and B. natalensis. Attenuation of cercariae leading to reduced infectivity in mice could be achieved in concentrations below those exerting acute toxicity. In view of our results and the ongoing exploitation of J. curcas for other purposes, this plant could become an affordable and effective component of an integrated approach to schistosomiasis control.  (+info)

Evaluation of environmental methods to control snails in an irrigation system in Central Morocco. (4/36)

The Moroccan Ministry of Public Health has launched a programme to eliminate schistosomiasis. One of the components in this process is the control of Bulinus truncatus, the intermediate host snail of Schistosoma haematobium. We evaluated three environmentally safe measures to control B. truncatus in siphon boxes, the main breeding sites for these snails in the Tessaout Amont irrigation system. The first method involved covering the siphon boxes to exclude light and reduce algal growth, the second consisted of increasing the frequency of emptying and cleaning the siphon boxes, and the third method increased water velocity to hinder the establishment of the intermediate hosts. The results showed that covering had a pronounced effect on snail and egg mass density, was accepted by the local community and prevented water contact. Cleaning the siphons three times during the irrigation season led to a reduction in snail density although it was not statistically significant and recolonization was rapid. Increasing water velocity by reducing the dimensions of siphon boxes delayed recolonization, but such a control measure can be applied only in specific situations where it does not pose hydraulic problems. The three interventions were selectively effective against B. truncatus, whereas other snails such as Physa acuta and Lymnaea peregra were hardly affected. Covering, the most promising control measure, could be useful in the Moroccan schistosomiasis eradication programme. However, further investigations are needed to assess its impact on water quality.  (+info)

PCR-RFLP analysis of the ITS2 region to identify Schistosoma haematobium and S. bovis from Kenya. (5/36)

Schistosoma haematobium, primarily a human parasite, and the closely related Schistosoma bovis from ruminants, are sympatric in many African countries such as Kenya. Because these two species 1) can inhabit the same Bulinus snails, 2) may be found in the same freshwater habitat, and 3) have morphologically similar cercariae, better means are needed to tell them apart. The second internal transcribed spacer (ITS2) region of the ribosomal gene complex (rDNA) of recent Kenyan isolates of both species was sequenced and found to be a 98% match. The S. bovis sequences were nearly identical (99%) to conspecific sequences from Niger; the S. haematobium sequences were nearly identical (99%) to conspecific sequences from Egypt, Mali, and Niger. Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of a 480 base pair (bp) PCR product containing the ITS2 region using two restriction enzymes, Taq1 and Sau3A1, yielded species-specific fragment patterns that allowed successful identification of a single S. haematobium cercaria. The protocol outlined here is useful in providing a rapid, one-day identification of S. haematobium (and likely S. bovis) cercariae (the infective larval stage) and/or other life cycle stages in a basic molecular biology laboratory. By helping to determine whether schistosome-infected bulinid snails in a particular body of water are transmitting a human or an animal schistosome, or both, this analysis will aid in disease control and in ongoing epidemiological studies.  (+info)

Studies on the biology of schistosomiasis with emphasis on the Senegal river basin. (6/36)

The construction of the Diama dam on the Senegal river, the Manantali dam on the Bafing river, Mali and the ensuing ecological changes have led to a massive outbreak of Schistosoma mansoni in Northern Senegal, associated with high intensity of infections, due to intense transmission, and the creation of new foci of S. haematobium. Data on the vectorial capacity of Biomphalaria pfeifferi from Ndombo, near Richard Toll, Senegal are presented with sympatric and allopatric (Cameroon) S. mansoni. Comparisons are made on infectivity, cercarial production, chronobiology of cercarial emergence and longevity of infected snails. Recent data on the intermediate host specificity of different isolates of S. haematobium from the Lower and Middle Valley of the Senegal river basin (SRB) demonstrate the existence of at least two strains of S. haematobium. The role of Bulinus truncatus in the transmission of S. haematobium in the Lower and Middle Valleys of the SRB is reviewed. Both S. haematobium and S. mansoni are transmitted in the same foci in some areas of the SRB.  (+info)

Ontogenetic reaction norm for binary traits: the timing of phallus development in the snail Bulinus truncatus. (7/36)

The ontogenetic trajectory of plastic binary traits may provide valuable insights into their evolutionary rate of change. In this paper, the timing of the plastic response of a temperature-dependent sexual polymorphism, aphally, is investigated in the freshwater snail Bulinus truncatus. Aphally is defined as the loss of the male copulatory organ in otherwise hermaphroditic animals. Individuals from two inbred lines were switched at various times during their early development between 25 and 30 degrees C, and their phally status ascertained, in order to evaluate the parameters characterising the ontogenetic reaction norm of aphally to temperature. A series of nested models including parameters for the onset, offset, and the intensity of the response to temperature were fitted to the data, allowing for a wide range of reaction norms. One genotype did not show any variation in aphally ratio with switching temperature, while a switch-point model (onset and offset corresponding to the same developmental point in time) best fitted the second genotype. The results suggest that the plasticity of aphally is expressed before eggs hatch. Their consequences on the evolution of aphally are discussed. More generally, the methodology proposed here can be used to analyse variation in ontogenetic parameters of discrete traits.  (+info)

Identification of snails within the Bulinus africanus group from East Africa by multiplex SNaPshot trade mark analysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms within the cytochrome oxidase subunit I. (8/36)

Identification of populations of Bulinus nasutus and B. globosus from East Africa is unreliable using characters of the shell. In this paper, a molecular method of identification is presented for each species based on DNA sequence variation within the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) as detected by a novel multiplexed SNaPshotTM assay. In total, snails from 7 localities from coastal Kenya were typed using this assay and variation within shell morphology was compared to reference material from Zanzibar. Four locations were found to contain B. nasutus and 2 locations were found to contain B. globosus. A mixed population containing both B. nasutus and B. globosus was found at Kinango. Morphometric variation between samples was considerable and UPGMA cluster analysis failed to differentiate species. The multiplex SNaPshotTM assay is an important development for more precise methods of identification of B. africanus group snails. The assay could be further broadened for identification of other snail intermediate host species.  (+info)

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