Between 2016 and 2018, researchers used drone and satellite imagery to survey habitats of freshwater snails, which transmit schistosomiasis, at 32 sites of the Lower Senegal River Basin, a site of a schistosomiasis epidemic, and screened 1,287 children in the area for schistosomiasis, and found that area of the water-contact site and area covered by nonemergent vegetation, which serves as snail habitat, were stronger predictors of human infection than host snail counts; the authors also found that schistosomiasis transmission risk was higher near human water-contact sites with available snail habitats than other sites, suggesting that removing nonemergent vegetation may benefit snail control efforts.
Article #19-03698: "Precision mapping of snail habitat provides a powerful indicator of human schistosomiasis transmission," by Chelsea L. Wood et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: Chelsea L. Wood, University of Washington, Seattle, WA; tel: 831-324-3076; email: chelwood@uw.edu
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences