Infection of neonatal Biomphalaria glabrata with the miracidia of Echinostoma caproni.

We used a Biomphalaria glabrata snail model for our studies and investigated the suitability of B. glabrata neonates, reared on a Nostoc sp. diet, for infection with Echinostoma caproni miracidia. We found that neonatal snails could become infected with E. caproni miracidia with 31 ± 11% standard error (SE) of our exposed snails containing rediae infections at 4 wk post-exposure (PE). However, the survival of exposed neonates was significantly (P < 0.05, Student's t-test) less than that of the unexposed controls at 1, 2, 3, and 4 wk PE.