Froelich Kelsey L, Reimink Ronald L, Rudko Sydney P, VanKempen Aaron P, Hanington Patrick C
Saint Joseph High School, Saint Joseph, MI, USA.
Office of Campus Ministries, Hope College, Holland, MI, USA.
Parasitol Res. 2019 May;118(5):1673-1677. doi: 10.1007/s00436-019-06280-3. Epub 2019 Mar 8.
Swimmer's itch has historically been controlled by applying copper sulfate (CuSO) to lakes as a way to eliminate snails that serve as the intermediate hosts for swimmer's itch-causing parasites. CuSO is still sometimes applied specifically to areas of lakes where swimmer's itch severity is high. It is unclear whether targeted application of chemical molluscicides like CuSO is effective for controlling swimmer's itch. Previous research has found that the larval stage of the parasites responsible for swimmer's itch are released from infected snails and are concentrated by onshore and alongshore winds, and thus, may not be affected by such focused applications. In this study, we evaluated the impact of targeted CuSO application to a specific recreational swimming area in a lake in Michigan. We measured the effect on snail populations, as well as on the presence/abundance of swimmer's itch-causing parasites using qPCR. Ultimately, while CuSO was confirmed to significantly reduce populations of snails within the treatment area, it was found to have no significant impact on swimmer's itch-causing parasites in the water, likely due to the free-swimming larval stages (cercariae) moving into the treatment area from surrounding regions.
历史上，尾蚴性皮炎的防治方法是向湖泊中施用硫酸铜（CuSO），以消灭作为尾蚴性皮炎致病寄生虫中间宿主的蜗牛。硫酸铜有时仍会专门施用于尾蚴性皮炎严重程度较高的湖泊区域。目前尚不清楚像硫酸铜这样的化学杀软体动物剂的定向施用对控制尾蚴性皮炎是否有效。先前的研究发现，导致尾蚴性皮炎的寄生虫幼虫阶段从受感染的蜗牛中释放出来，并被陆上和沿岸风集中，因此可能不受这种集中施用的影响。在本研究中，我们评估了在密歇根州一个湖泊的特定休闲游泳区域定向施用硫酸铜的影响。我们使用定量聚合酶链反应（qPCR）测量了对蜗牛种群以及对导致尾蚴性皮炎的寄生虫的存在/丰度的影响。最终，虽然证实硫酸铜能显著减少处理区域内的蜗牛数量，但发现它对水中导致尾蚴性皮炎的寄生虫没有显著影响，这可能是由于自由游动的幼虫阶段（尾蚴）从周边区域进入了处理区域。
