Mekong schistosomiasis more widespread than previously thought

Researchers Stephen W. Attwood of China's Sichuan University, Farrah A. Fatih of London's Natural History Museum, and E. Suchart Upatham of Thailand's Mahidol University analyzed DNA sequences of sample organisms collected from the Mekong river and its tributaries in Cambodia, Laos and Malaysia. They found, contrary to the previously held belief that S. mekongi is confined to a small section of the lower Mekong River, that organisms collected in its tributaries across Cambodia were also of the species S. mekongi. The range of the snail intermediate host and the ecological conditions for potential transmission were also shown to be much broader than once thought.

Prior to this study it was also assumed that S. mekongi originated in Yunnan, China, migrated southwards across Laos and into Cambodia, and later became extinct in Laos due to conditions unsuitable for transmission. However, Attwood and colleagues' analysis suggested a more recent, and ongoing, migration northwards from Vietnam, towards Cambodia and Laos.

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