Effect of water plants and non-target snails on the infectivity of bulinus truncatus with schistosoma haematobium

ABSTRACT

The application of the water plant [Ceratophyllum demersum, Eichhornia crassipes and Lemna gibba] and/or non-target snails [Planorbis planorbis, Physa acuta and Melanoides tuberculata] gave a significant degree of reduction in the infection rate of B. truncatus subjected to S. haematobium miracidia. The data also indicated a reduction in mean total number of cercarial production/snail. However, no significant difference was detected in the prepatent period and duration of cercarial shedding of the parasite when compared with the control group. So, the results revealed that the snails exhibited a competitive ability against B. truncatus. Both survival rate and egg production of B. truncatus were greatly reduced when existed in mixed cultures with non-target snails and the magnitude of this reduction increased by increasing the number of the non-target snails