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Effect of temperature on the development of Schistosoma japonicum within Oncomelania hupensis, and hibernation of O. hupensis

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Abstract

The objectives of this investigation were to assess the effect of temperature on the development of Schistosoma japonicum harboured in Oncomelania hupensis and to determine the lowest temperature threshold at which the hibernation of O. hupensis occurs. In the first experiment, adult infection-free O. hupensis, collected from Jiangsu province in eastern China, were infected with S. japonicum miracidia and raised at different temperatures under laboratory conditions. The development of miracidia until the release of cercariae was monitored employing the cercarial shedding method. In the second experiment, batches of O. hupensis were kept at temperatures below 13°C with the temperature gradually reduced. Snail activity was assessed by a pin puncture method. We found a positive relationship between the development of S. japonicum within O. hupensis and temperature. In snails kept at 15.3°C, S. japonicum arrested their development, while the fastest development occurred at 30°C. The temperature at which half of the snails were in hibernation (ET50) was 6.4°C. Our results underscore the pivotal role temperature plays on the biological activity of O. hupensis and the development of S. japonicum within the intermediate host. These findings are likely to have implications for the transmission of schistosomiasis in a warmer future China.

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Acknowledgements

Our sincere thanks are addressed to the staff of the Department of Schistosomiasis Control, Jiangsu Institute of Parasitic Diseases, China. This work received financial support from the UNICEF/UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR; project M8/181/4/Y.88, ID-A10775) and the Chinese National Science Foundation (project nos. 300070684 and 30590373). J. Utzinger and P. Vounatsou acknowledge the financial support from the Swiss National Science Foundation (project nos. PP00B-102883 and 3252B0-102136).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jiangsu Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Wuxi, 214064, People’s Republic of China

    Guo-Jing Yang, Le-Ping Sun & Qing-Biao Hong

  2. Department of Public Health and Epidemiology, Swiss Tropical Institute, P.O. Box, CH-4002, Basel, Switzerland

    Guo-Jing Yang, Jürg Utzinger, Penelope Vounatsou & Marcel Tanner

  3. National Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai, 200025, People’s Republic of China

    Xiao-Nong Zhou

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  1. Guo-Jing Yang
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  2. Jürg Utzinger
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  4. Qing-Biao Hong
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  7. Xiao-Nong Zhou
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Correspondence to Xiao-Nong Zhou.

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Yang, GJ., Utzinger, J., Sun, LP. et al. Effect of temperature on the development of Schistosoma japonicum within Oncomelania hupensis, and hibernation of O. hupensis . Parasitol Res 100, 695–700 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-006-0315-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-006-0315-8

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