TY - JOUR AU - Habib, Mohamed R. AU - Lv, Shan AU - Guo, Yun-Hai AU - Gu, Wen-Biao AU - Standley, Claire J. AU - Caldeira, Roberta L. AU - Zhou, Xiao-Nong PY - 2018 DA - 2018/12/08 TI - Morphological and molecular characterization of invasive Biomphalaria straminea in southern China JO - Infectious Diseases of Poverty SP - 120 VL - 7 IS - 1 AB - Schistosomiasis is a common parasitic disease designated as a neglected tropical disease by the World Health Organization. Schistosomiasis mansoni is a form of the disease that is caused by the digenean trematode Schistosoma mansoni, transmitted through Biomphalaria spp. as an intermediate host. Biomphalaria was introduced to Hong Kong, China in aquatic plants shipments coming from Brazil and the snail rapidly established its habitats in southern China. Earlier studies of Biomphalaria spp. introduced to southern China identified the snails as Biomphalaria straminea, one of the susceptible species implicated in S. mansoni transmission in South America. However, recent molecular investigations also indicated the presence of another South American species, B. kuhniana, which is refractory to infection. As such, it is important to identify accurately the species currently distributed in southern China, especially with emerging reports of active S. mansoni infections in Chinese workers returning from Africa. SN - 2049-9957 UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s40249-018-0505-5 DO - 10.1186/s40249-018-0505-5 ID - Habib2018 ER -