Geographical Distribution of Biomphalaria snails in East Africa

Magero, Victor O.; Kisara, Sammy; Wade, Christopher M.

Abstract

There is limited information on the distribution of Biomphalaria snails, an important snail intermediate host of schistosomiasis, in East Africa. This study assessed the incidence and geographical distribution of Biomphalaria snails in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Maximum Entropy modeling was used to predict the potential distribution of Biomphalaria snails, in line with habitat suitability. Malacological surveys were then conducted guided by MaxEnt predictions and information obtained from previous research papers. The surveys were conducted at a total of 156 sites including streams, rivers, lake shores, dams and irrigation canals over a 3-year period (2018 to 2020). Geographical coordinates, ecological and physicochemical information was recorded for the sites visited. Snails were identified morphologically, based on shell characters using established identification keys. Biomphalaria snails were found at 23.07% (36/156) of the sites sampled. Streams proved to be the habitats most preferred by Biomphalaria snails (50% of all of the sites where the snails were found were streams), followed by rivers (20.6%), irrigation canals (8.8%), lake shores (8.8%), springs (5.9%), and dams (5.9%) with snail abundance increasing with increase in temperature and decrease in water depth. Biomphalaria snails were found in the Lake Victoria basin, Mwea Irrigation Scheme and Eastern Province of Kenya, the Lake Albert region, Lango region, Soroti district, Lower Moshi irrigation scheme, Babati district, Iringa region, Tabora region and Kigoma region. Information on the distribution of Biomphalaria snails in East Africa will aid in developing prevention and control strategies for schistosomiasis.

Citation

Magero, V. O., Kisara, S., & Wade, C. M. Geographical Distribution of Biomphalaria snails in East Africa

• Working Paper Type: Working Paper
• Deposit Date: May 7, 2024
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/34110701
• Publisher URL: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.11.04.467236v2
• Additional Information: This article is a preprint and has not been certified by peer review .