I am a
Home I AM A Search Login

Papers of the Week


2022 Oct 28


J Helminthol


96

A report of cercariae in Knowsley Safari, Prescot, United Kingdom, with notes on other trematodes implicated in human cercarial dermatitis.

Authors

Juhász A, Barlow SEJ, Williams H, Johnson B, Walsh DN, Cunningham LC, Jones S, LaCourse EJ, Stothard JR
J Helminthol. 2022 Oct 28; 96:e79.
PMID: 36305615.

Abstract

As part of surveillance of snail-borne trematodiasis in Knowsley Safari (KS), Prescot, United Kingdom, a collection was made in July 2021 of various planorbid ( = 173) and lymnaeid ( = 218) snails. These were taken from 15 purposely selected freshwater habitats. In the laboratory emergent trematode cercariae, often from single snails, were identified by morphology with a sub-set, of those most accessible, later characterized by cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (1) DNA barcoding. Two schistosomatid cercariae were of special note in the context of human cercarial dermatitis (HCD), emergent from and spp. emergent from . The former schistosomatid was last reported in the United Kingdom over 50 years ago. From 1 analyses, the latter likely consisted of two taxa, , a first report in the United Kingdom, and a hitherto unnamed genetic lineage having some affiliation with . The chronobiology of emergent cercariae from was assessed, with the vertical swimming rate of measured. We provide a brief risk appraisal of HCD for public activities typically undertaken within KS educational and recreational programmes.