Comparative Susceptibility of Common Laboratory Animals to Experimental Infection with Schistosoma haematobium

Abstract

Brumpt (1928) listed the animals which at that time had been reported by various investigators to have been successfully infected with Schistosoma haematobium. This list included the following: various species of monkeys, guinea pigs, white mice, white rats and hedgehogs. Stunkard (1946), in a search for a suitable molluscan host for S. haematobium among snails native to the United States, used jerbils and baboons, which had been infected in Egypt, as a source of eggs. Watson, AbdelAzim and Halawani (1948) used mice as experimental hosts for S. haematobium in carrying out chemotherapeutic studies. Standen (1949) reported the successful infection of the golden hamster with S. haematobium, but lacked sufficient material to make any observations on the course of the infection in the hamster. In the above reports, no mention is made of the number of cercariae used for exposure or of the resulting worm yield or other pertinent information which is of value in experimental schistosome infections.