Paragonimiasis in southwest Cameroon: isolation of microcercous cercariae from land snails caught in a Paragonimus Africanus endemic zone

Abstract

More than 25 years after the discovery of the 2 main African Paragonimus species, P. africanus and P. uterobilateralis, the snails' first intermediate hosts, which harbour rediae and cercariae as well as these larval stages, remain yet unknown.

In the present study, the authors describe microcercous cercariae and rediae with the characteristics of the genus Paragonimus from land snails of the Achatinidae family caught in a forest zone of Cameroon where P. africanus is endemic. The results corroborate Sachs and Cumberlidge's findings in a P. uterobilateralis focus in Liberia and indicate that for both African Paragonimus species, the first intermediate host should probably be land snails rather than fresh water snails.