Evidence of autochthonous transmission of urinary schistosomiasis in Almeria (southeast Spain): An outbreak analysis.
Abstract Background Schistosomiasis is endemic in 78 countries belonging to tropical and subtropical areas. However, autochthonous transmission of urogenital schistosomiasis was reported in Corsica (France) in 2013. We present evidence of autochthonous transmission of urogenital schistosomiasis in Almeria (Spain) in 2003. Methods Description of the outbreak in farmers and subsequent epidemiological studies aimed at searching for Bulinus snails and their genotypic characteristics. Results The outbreak affected 4 farmers out of a group of 5 people who repeatedly bathed that summer in an irrigation pool in the area. Two of them presented macroscopic hematuria with bilharziomas, showing the pre…
First morphogenetic analysis of parasite eggs from Schistosomiasis haematobium infected sub-Saharan migrants in Spain and proposal for a new standardised study methodology
International audience; Schistosomiasis is a Neglected Tropical Disease caused by trematode species of the genus Schistosoma. Both, autochthonous and imported cases of urogenital schistosomiasis have been described in Europe. The present study focuses on eggs, considered pure S. haematobium by genetic characterisation (intergenic ITS region of the rDNA and cox1 mtDNA). A phenotypic characterisation of S. haematobium eggs was made by morphometric comparison with experimental populations of S. bovis and S. mansoni, to help in the diagnosis of S. haematobium populations infecting sub-Saharan migrants in Spain. Analyses were made by Computer Image Analysis System (CIAS) applied on the basis of …