|
Summary
Bahawalpur has been unexplored for its snail fauna and parasitic diseases. Snails were collected on random basis from the vegetation, canals bottoms and areas surrounding canals from all Bahawalpur district between February and October 2013. These were examined for presence of Fasciola cercariae by cercariae shedding activity in water. A total of 4012 snails was collected, of which only Lymnaea snails (360) were found to harbour Fasciola cercariae with overall prevalence rate of 11.7%. Statistically, an insignificant effect (P>0.05) of temperature (16.1-35 ºC) and rainfall (0-53.6 mm) on the disease prevalence was found, while a significant effect (P<0.05) was recorded between the disease prevalence and humidity (35-68.6 %). It is concluded that, in Bahawalpur district, infestations of Fasciola have a significant prevalence, with probably a significant related economic loss.
|
