Bilharziasis survey in British Somaliland, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, the Sudan, and Yemen

Abstract

A survey of bilharziasis and its vectors in certain countries of north-east Africa and of the Red Sea area, carried out between December 1951 and February 1952, is described within the framework of a review of the somewhat scattered and incomplete information already available on this subject in the literature. Clinical inquiry and microscopic examination of random stool and urine specimens were used to obtain data on the endemicity of the disease, and many samples of suspect mollusc vectors of Schistosoma haematobium and S. mansoni were collected from varied habitats and subsequently classified. A section on malacology discusses the difficulties of systematization of the African freshwater snails. The need for a fuller investigation of human incidence, particularly in the inland and highland districts, is stressed, and the author suggests measures for the control of vectors, sanitation of water channels, prophylaxis of the disease, health education and legislation, and biological and chemical research. He draws the conclusion that the future economy of these countries depends upon the joint efforts of the physician, the malacologist, the chemist, and the engineer in controlling the spread of bilharziasis from the highly endemic areas to regions where its incidence is still slight.