high prevalence of schistosoma japonicum infection in carabao from samar province, the philippines implications for transmission and control盛行的日本血吸虫感染水牛从萨玛,菲律宾对传输和控制的影响.pdfVIP

High Prevalence of Schistosoma japonicum Infection in Carabao from Samar Province, the Philippines: Implications for Transmission and Control 1,2 3 1,2,4 3 3 Catherine A. Gordon *, Luz P. Acosta , Darren J. Gray , Remigo M. Olveda , Blanca Jarilla , 1 4 1 Geoffrey N. Gobert , Allen G. Ross , Donald P. McManus 1 Molecular Parasitology Laboratory, Infectious Diseases Division, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane, Australia, 2 Infectious Disease Epidemiology Unit, School of Population Health, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, 3 Department of Immunology, Research Institute of Tropical Medicine, Manila, Philippines, 4 Griffith Health Institute, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia Abstract Schistosoma japonicum is endemic in the Philippines, China and Indonesia, and infects more than 40 mammalian host species, all of which can act as reservoirs of infection. In China, water buffaloes have been shown to be major reservoirs of human infection. However, in the Philippines, carabao have not been considered important reservoir hosts for S. japonicum due to the low prevalence and infection intensities reported, the only exception being a qPCR-based study indicating 51% of carabao were S. japonicum-positive. However, the low prevalence found for the same animals when using conventional copro-parasitological techniques means that there is still confusion about the role of carabao in the transmission of schistosomiasis japonicum. To address this inconsistency, and to shed light on the potential role of carabao in the transmission of S. japonicum in the