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Schistosome transmission surveillance in Pemba, United Republic of Tanzania: a molecular xenomonitoring approach for control and elimination programmes

Article scientifique 2026 Anglais

Résumé

Abstract The development and implementation of diagnostic tools for the detection of Schistosoma in freshwater snail vectors were added to the World Health Organization’s guidelines on the control and elimination of human schistosomiasis in 2022. However, there are few documented examples of their application in schistosomiasis elimination settings. The current study validated a high-throughput polymerase chain reaction–based diagnostic protocol for the detection of Schistosoma haematobium (causing urogenital schistosomiasis) and S. bovis (causing bovine schistosomiasis) DNA in Bulinus spp. in the elimination setting of Pemba (Zanzibar, United Republic of Tanzania). Bulinus were collected and screened for patent schistosome infections across 4 malacological surveys (2017–2018) from 52 human–freshwater contact sites (i.e. freshwater bodies) located in 8 shehias (small administrative regions). Shehias varied from high (persisting) to low (declining) human urogenital schistosomiasis prevalence. Of the 9430 Bulinus spp. screened for patent schistosome infections using the standard parasitological shedding method, 0.11% (10/9430) S. haematobium and 0.02% (2/9430) S. bovis patent infections were observed. Using the molecular diagnostic, of the 5465 snails screened, 2.73% (149/5465) S. haematobium and 0.24% (13/5465) S. bovis DNA-positive snails were identified. Xenomonitoring detected >12× more S. haematobium presence in Bulinus spp. than conventional shedding methods, demonstrating a higher sensitivity for identifying parasite presence. Xenomonitoring positives suggest that S. bovis transmission occurs in several focal areas in Pemba, with a wider distribution than previously thought. Identification of human and bovine schistosome DNA in both low and high prevalence settings shows the feasibility of using xenomonitoring assays for transmission/elimination surveillance.

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Pennance, T., Archer, J., Lugli, E., Rostron, P., Ali, S., Amour, A., Suleiman, K., Rollinson, D., Knopp, S., Sa, A., Cable, J., Webster, B. (2026). Schistosome transmission surveillance in Pemba, United Republic of Tanzania: a molecular xenomonitoring approach for control and elimination programmes. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0031182026102510

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Auteur(s)

Tom Pennance John Archer Elena B. Lugli Penelope Rostron Said Mohammed Ali Amour Khamis Amour Khamis Rashid Suleiman David Rollinson Stefanie Knopp Ame Sa Jo Cable Bonnie L. Webster

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