Further data on the compatibility between Schistosoma intercalatum (lower Guinea strain) and Bulinus forskalii: epidemiological consequences.

A study of the compatibility between Schistosoma intercalatum from Cameroon and its potential vectors Bulinus forskalii from Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast and Niger has been carried out. As compatibility test, the snail infection test, completed by an histological study, was used. Snail infection experiments showed that all the populations of B. forskalii we tested are very good potential vectors, with infection rates ranging between 76.5 and 93%. The histological study revealed no defense reaction in the snails, which confirms the perfect compatibility of the B. forskalii populations we studied. In an epidemiological perspective, this study confirms the ever present risk of extension of S. intercalatum parasitosis in Africa.