Schistosoma japonicum infections in cattle and water buffaloes of farming communities of Koronadal City, Philippines

Research Article

International Journal of One Health, 6(1): 28-33

https://doi.org/10.14202/IJOH.2020.28-33

Jan Clyden B. Tenorio¹ and Elizabeth C. Molina^1,2

1. Department of Paraclinical Sciences, College Of Veterinary Medicine, University of Southern Mindanao, Kabacan, Cotabato, Philippines.
2. Cotabato Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development Consortium, University of Southern Mindanao, Kabacan, Cotabato, Philippines.

Background and Aim: Schistosomiasis is one of the seven neglected tropical diseases that are of public health concern in the Philippines. The disease is prevalent in few of the barangays (communities) in Koronadal City, Philippines. Status of the Schistosoma japonicum infections in domestic animal reservoir host has yet to be explored in these endemic communities. The study aimed to determine the prevalence and infection intensity of the disease in cattle and water buffaloes of endemic communities of Koronadal City.

Materials and Methods: Schistosomiasis was investigated in 70 cattle and 38 water buffaloes from three endemic communities in Koronadal City. The copro-parasitological technique used was the formalin-ethyl acetate sedimentation method.

Results: S. japonicum infection was observed in 48.6% of cattle and 60.5% in water buffaloes. The bovine contamination index indicated that all infected animals released 3,505,500 eggs/day. On average, infected cattle released 1,674,500 eggs daily, while infected water buffaloes liberated 1,932,000 eggs in the environment daily.

Conclusion: Cattle and water buffaloes in these endemic areas are infected with S. japonicum. These animals release large numbers of eggs in the environment daily; hence, played an important role in disease transmission. Those living and working in endemic areas should be aware of the inherent dangers of the disease. Keywords: one health, Philippines, Schistosoma japonicum, schistosomiasis, zoonotic parasitic diseases.

Keywords: one health, Philippines, Schistosoma japonicum, schistosomiasis, zoonotic parasitic diseases.

How to cite this article: Tenorio JCB, Molina EC (2020) Schistosoma japonicum infections in cattle and water buffaloes of farming communities of Koronadal City, Philippines, Int. J. One Health, 6(1): 28-33.

Received: 02-12-2019 Accepted: 31-01-2020 Published online: 02-03-2020

Corresponding author: Jan Clyden B. Tenorio E-mail: jcbtenorio@usm.edu.ph

DOI: 10.14202/IJOH.2020.28-33

Copyright: Tenorio and Molina This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.