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Infection of snails with bird schistosomes and the threat of swimmer’s itch in selected Polish lakes

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Abstract

Studies of selected species of Lymnaeidae and Planorbidae showed that infection with bird schistosomes occurred in 14 of the 26 Polish lakes studied. In Planorbarius corneus larvae of Bilharziella polonica were found, and in Lymnaea stagnalis and Radix auricularia larvae of Trichobilharzia ocellata. In spite of their comparatively low prevalence, cercariae, potentially pathogenic to humans, may have caused dermatitis in patients registered in one of the regions under study. The low prevalence of infection among the host snails may have been compensated for by the enormous number of cercariae released by them, which, moreover, showed a long-lasting viability, particularly at low ambient temperature.

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  1. Department of Invertebrate Zoology, Institute of General and Molecular Biology, Nicholas Copernicus University in Torun, Gagarina street 9, 87-100, Torun, Poland

    Elżbieta Żbikowska

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  1. Elżbieta Żbikowska
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Correspondence to Elżbieta Żbikowska.

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Żbikowska, E. Infection of snails with bird schistosomes and the threat of swimmer’s itch in selected Polish lakes. Parasitol Res 92, 30–35 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-003-0997-0

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