Schistosoma spindale explained

Schistosoma spindale is a species of digenetic trematode in the family Schistosomatidae. It causes intestinal schistosomiasis in the ruminants.

The distribution of Schistosoma spindale includes Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia, and Laos.^[1]

The tegument of Schistosoma spindale under scanning electron microscope was studied in 1983.^[2] It is non-tuberculated.^[3]

The first intermediate host is a freshwater snail Indoplanorbis exustus that may be the sole natural intermediate host for Schistosoma spindale (and other two Schistosoma species) on the Indian sub-continent. One snail can produce up to 7,000 cercariae in one day.^[4]

The cercariae usually infect some hairy host (low host specificity) in shallow and muddy waters.^[4]

The definitive hosts of Schistosoma spindale are (mainly) ruminants and Schistosoma spindale cause intestinal schistosomiasis of ruminants (Artiodactyla, Ruminantia). Surveillance for cattle schistosomiasis is generally inadequate and the literature is limited, but some idea of the problem can be gained from past small scale studies. For a diagnosis there is need to find eggs of Schistosoma spindale in feces. Surveys in Sri Lanka revealed prevalence of Schistosoma spindale of 31.2% (of 901 cattle),^[5] whilst in Bangladesh a similarly high prevalence of 36% has been reported.^[6] More recently, in Kerala South India, prevalences have been reported up to 57.3% in cattle, 50% in water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) and 4.7% in goats.^[7] The prevalence of Schistosoma spindale in the animals depends on the diagnostic test employed. Thus, it was as low as 10–30% by faecal examination (again low if egg detection method is employed and high if hatching method is followed) with as high as 80–95% by examining mesentery of the animals for live schistosomes during post mortem.^[8] Schistosoma spindale was found causing an outbreak in cattle in Maharashtra leading to heavy mortality with symptoms similar to Rinder pest.^[9]

Other hosts of Schistosoma spindale include:

• Bandicota indica^[10]
• Rattus argentiventer
• Rattus rattus diardii
• Rattus tiomanicus jalorensis

Schistosoma spindale has been implicated of human cercarial dermatitis in India^[11] and in Malaysia.^[12]

Cladogram

A cladogram based on 18S ribosomal RNA, 28S ribosomal RNA, and partial cytochrome-c oxidase I (COI) genes shows phylogenic relations of species in the genus Schistosoma:^[13]

References

This article incorporates CC-BY-2.0 text from the reference.^[14]

Further reading

• Agrawal M. C. & Southgate V. R. (2000). "Schistosoma spindale and bovine schistosomosis". J Vet Parasitol 14: 95–107.
• De Bont. J.. Vercruysse. J.. Van Aken. D.. Southgate. V. R.. Rollinson. D.. Studies of the relationships between Schistosoma nasale and S. Spindale and their snail host Indoplanorbis exustus. Journal of Helminthology. 65. 1. 1–7. 1991. 2050980. 10.1017/S0022149X00010361.
• Fransen. J.. De Bont. J.. Vercruysse. J.. Van Aken. D.. Southgate. V. R.. Rollinson. D.. Pathology of natural infections of Schistosoma spindale Montgomery, 1906, in cattle. Journal of Comparative Pathology. 103. 4. 447–455. 1990. 2079559. 10.1016/S0021-9975(08)80032-1.
• Littlewood. D. T. J.. Lockyer. A. E.. Webster. B. L.. Johnston. D. A.. Le. T. H.. The complete mitochondrial genomes of Schistosoma haematobium and Schistosoma spindale and the evolutionary history of mitochondrial genome changes among parasitic flatworms. 10.1016/j.ympev.2005.12.012. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 39. 2. 452–467. 2006. 16464618. .

Notes and References

1. Schneider . C. R. . Kitikoon . V. . Sornmani . S. . Thirachantra . S. . Mekong schistosomiasis. III: A parasitological survey of domestic water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) on Khong Island, Laos . Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology . 69 . 2 . 227–232 . 1975 . 1155989. 10.1080/00034983.1975.11687005 .
2. Kruatrachue . M. . Riengrojpitak . S. . Upatham . E. S. . Sahaphong . S. . Scanning electron microscopy of the tegumental surface of adult Schistosoma spindale . The Southeast Asian Journal of Tropical Medicine and Public Health . 14 . 3 . 281–289 . 1983 . 6658498.
3. Gupta S, Agrawal M. 2002. Comparative scanning electron microscopy of some Indian schistosomes. Journal of Parasitology and Applied Biology. 11. 49–54.
4. Haas . W. . Granzer . M. . Brockelman . C. R. . Finding and recognition of the bovine host by the cercariae of Schistosoma spindale . Parasitology Research . 76 . 4 . 343–350 . 1990 . 2336448 . 10.1007/bf00928190.
5. De Bont . J. . Vercruysse . J. . Van Aken . D. . Southgate . V. R. . Rollinson . D. . Moncrieff . C. . The epidemiology of Schistosoma spindale Montgomery, 1906 in cattle in Sri Lanka . Parasitology . 102 Pt 2 . 2 . 237–241 . 1991 . 1852491 . 10.1017/s0031182000062545.
6. Islam K. (1975). "Schistosomiasis in domestic ruminants in Bangladesh". Trop Anim Health Prod 7: 244.
7. Ravindran . R. . Lakshmanan . B. . Ravishankar . C. . Subramanian . H. . Visceral schistosomiasis among domestic ruminants slaughtered in Wayanad, South India . The Southeast Asian Journal of Tropical Medicine and Public Health . 38 . 6 . 1008–1010 . 2007 . 18613541.
8. Book: Agrawal MC. 2012. Schistosomes and schistosomiasis in South Asia. Springer (India) Pvt, Ltd. New Delhi. 978-81-322-0539-5.
9. Kulkarni HV, Rao SR, Chudhari PG. 1954. Unusual outbreak of schistosomiasis in bovines due to Schistosoma spindale associated with heavy mortality in Bombay state. Bombay Veterinary College Magazine. 4. 3–15.
10. Singh. K. I.. Krishnasamy. M.. Ambu. S.. The large bandicoot rat, Bandicota indica, a new host for Schistosoma spindale, Montgomery, 1906, in Peninsular Malaysia. The Southeast Asian Journal of Tropical Medicine and Public Health. 23. 3. 537–538. 1992. 1488714. .
11. Narain. K.. Rajguru. S. K.. Mahanta. J.. Incrimination of Schistosoma spindale as a causative agent of farmer's dermatitis in Assam with a note on liver pathology in mice. The Journal of Communicable Diseases. 30. 1. 1–6. 1998. 9842157.
12. Inder Singh. K.. Krishnasamy. M.. Ambu. S.. Rasul. R.. Chong. N. L.. Studies on animal schistosomes in Peninsular Malaysia: Record of naturally infected animals and additional hosts of Schistosoma spindale. The Southeast Asian Journal of Tropical Medicine and Public Health. 28. 2. 303–307. 1997. 9444010.
13. Brant. S. V.. Morgan. J. A. T.. Mkoji. G. M.. Snyder. S. D.. Rajapakse. R. P. V. J.. Loker. E. S.. 10.1645/GE-3515.1. An Approach to Revealing Blood Fluke Life Cycles, Taxonomy, and Diversity: Provision of Key Reference Data Including Dna Sequence from Single Life Cycle Stages. Journal of Parasitology. 92. 1. 77–88. 2006. 16629320. 2519025 .
14. Liu . L. . Mondal . M. M. . Idris . M. A. . Lokman . H. S. . Rajapakse . P. V. J. . Satrija . F. . Diaz . J. L. . Upatham . E. S. . Attwood . S. W. . The phylogeography of Indoplanorbis exustus (Gastropoda: Planorbidae) in Asia . 10.1186/1756-3305-3-57 . Parasites & Vectors . 3 . 57 . 2010 . 20602771. 2914737 . free .