Schistosomiasis japonica in animals in the Philippines and its veterinary public health importance

Issue Date

7-2021

Abstract

Schistosomiasis is a Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) that persists in 78 countries around the world. Schistosoma japonicum infections persist as a public health concern in China, the Philippines, and Indonesia. In the Philippines, it is endemic in 1,609 barangays across 12 regions, with about 12.4 million Filipinos at risk and 2.7 million exposed to infections. Many studies have reported the disease's epidemiology among different animal reservoirs in endemic areas in the country. High infection prevalences have also been reported among water buffaloes in endemic hotspots, suggesting that they are the major zoonotic reservoir of infections. The status of schistosomiasis in bubaline reservoir hosts remains largely unknown in the rest of the endemic foci. The adverse economic effects of livestock infections have been documented in China, but the extent and value of these production losses due to infections remain unknown in the Philippines. Schistosomiasis' zoonotic nature highlights the importance of Veterinary Public Health with One Health in approaching its prevention, control and elimination. This article aims to collate the published literature on animal S. japonicum infections in the Philippines to draw attention to its veterinary public health importance and to mitigate the sparse attention the disease gets from the Filipino veterinary community.

Source or Periodical Title

Philippine Journal of Veterinary Medicine

ISSN

0031-7705

Volume

58

Issue

2

Page

248-263

Document Type

Article

Frequency

semi-annually

Physical Description

illustrations; maps; tables

Language

English

En – AGROVOC descriptors

WATER BUFFALOES; SCHISTOSOMIASIS; SCHISTOSOMA JAPOMICUM; ENDEMICS; PUBLIC HEALTH; ONE HEALTH APPROACH; PHILIPPINES

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