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Prevalence and Intensity of Infection with Third Stage Larvae of Angiostrongylus cantonensis in Mollusks from Northeast Thailand

Prevalences and intensity of infection with Angiostrongylus cantonensis third stage larvae were examined in mollusks to determine whether they are potential intermediate hosts in eight provinces, northeast Thailand. Mollusk samples were collected from 24 reservoirs (3 reservoirs/province) in close to human cases during the previous year. Six out of 24 localities and 9 (3 new record species) out of 27 species were found with the infection. The highest intensity in infected species was found to be only one or two snails, whereas the majority had very low or no infection. The highest density was found in Pila pesmei and the lowest in Pila polita. The edible snails, P. polita, P. pesmei, and Hemiplecta distincta have the potential to transmit A. cantonensis to man. The varying density levels of larvae in infected snails may reflect observed variation in symptoms of people who traditionally eat a raw snail dish.

Received September 10, 2008. Accepted for publication March 6, 2009.

Acknowledgments: We thank the Ministry of Public Health, Department of Communicable Diseases Control who funded this study and all of the public health personnel who helped in survey.

^* Address correspondence to Smarn Tesana, Food-Borne Parasite Research Group, Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen Province 40002, Thailand. E-mail: smarn_te{at}kku.ac.th

Authors’ addresses: Smarn Tesana, Tuanchai Srisawangwong, Paiboon Sithithaworn, and Thewarach Laha, Food-Borne Parasite Research Group, Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen Province 40002, Thailand, Tel: +66-43-348387, Fax: +66-43-202475, E-mail: smarn_te{at}kku.ac.th. Ross Andrews, Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, The University of South Australia, South Australia, Australia 5001.