Mekong schistosomiasis and the intermediate host snail in the Mekong region

Abstract

Schistosomiasis mekongi is endemic in the Mekong river basin from Khong Island in southern Laos to 200 km downstream in Kratie of eastern Cambodia. The intermediate host snail of Schistosoma mekongi is a tiny hydrobiid snail Neotricula aperta consisting of three races (α, β and γ). The γ-N. aperta race is known to be naturally infected and epidemiologically significant. Transmission of the disease in the Mekong river basin occurs during the low-water period, only a few months in March, April and May. Inhabitants of the lower Mekong tend to rise early to bathe, defecate, wash and work on the river bank, children join their parents.
This paper on Mekong schistosomiasis and the intermediate host snail in the Mekong region consists of discussion on the parasitic disease in the past, present epidemiology, malacology, transmission dynamics, control implementation, application of immunodiagnosis for epidemiology and difference in the schistosomiasis problems of Laos and Cambodia.