The first occurrence of the Achatina fulica, an intermediate host of Angiostrongylus cantonensis, the etiological agent of meningoencephalic angiostrongiliasis, is reported in Resende municipality, Brazil. In the five visited localities, snails were found living freely, and the larvae of this parasite was not seen in any of them. The finding of A. fulica in the area may be related to its commer...

Predation risk is expected to affect the foraging behaviour of individual prey according to their size, sex and reproductive condition. Parasites may also affect the foraging behaviour of their hosts, due to increased energetic demands imposed by the parasite, or due to a parasite strategy to increase the likelihood of its transmission to the next host. Field studies were conducted to determine...

The 5’ end of the small subunit ribosomal RNA gene was used to determine whether 3rd larval stage Angiostrongylus cantonensis are present in populations of the giant African land snail Achatina fulica from French Polynesia. Two populations, one from Moaroa Valley, Tahiti (n=5) and the other from Haapiti Valley, Moorea (n=10), were examined. All snails from Tahiti were infected with nematodes, w...

Snails are creatures present in various ecosystems that, in addition to being present in human surroundings, some of them are also important in veterinary medicine and medicine as the intermediate hosts of Digenean trematodes. The present study was conducted to identify and determine the geographical distribution of freshwater snails and investigate the relationship of variables, such as season...

BACKGROUND While the dispersal of hosts and vectors-through active or passive movement-is known to facilitate the spread and re-emergence of certain infectious diseases, little is known about the movement ecology of Oncomelania spp., intermediate snail host of the parasite Schistosoma japonicum, and its consequences for the spread of schistosomiasis in East and Southeast Asia. In China, despite...

Doses of 60Co gamma radiation with 2.5; 5; 7.5; 10; 15; 20; 25; 30; 35; 40; 45; 50; 55; 60; 80; 160; 320 and 640 Gy were applied to 1, 080 snails Biomphalaria straminea, an intermediate host of Schistosoma mansoni, divided in groups containing 30 mollusks. In addition, 60 non irradiated snails were kept as control. Fifty percent of the population was kept in colonies (allowing cross fertilizati...

Experimental infections of Egyptian Radix natalensis (shell height at miracidial exposure: 4 mm) with a French isolate of Fasciola hepatica were carried out under laboratory conditions at 22 °C to specify the characteristics and follow the dynamics of their egg-laying. Controls constituted unexposed R. natalensis of the same size. No significant difference between controls and the uninfected sn...