Abstract
Seven cases of urogenital schistosomiasis occurred in Corsica in 2015 and 2016. The episodes were related to exposure to the same river and involved the same parasite strain as an outbreak with 106 cases in summer 2013. The connection calls for further investigations on the presence of an animal reservoir and the survival of infested snails during winter. However, recontamination of the river from previously infected bathers remains the most likely hypothesis.
Highlights
In 2013, urogenital schistosomiasis re-emerged in Europe, with 106 cases linked to exposure to the Cavu river in southern Corsica [4,5,6,7]
Even if the most likely hypothesis for the maintenance of the parasite in the Cavu river is re-seeding by human hosts, other environmental factors cannot be yet ruled out
Research into the survival of infested snails during winter and a possible rodent reservoir along the river are necessary to evaluate the risk of ongoing transmission of urogenital schistosomiasis in the Cavu river
Summary
ELISA: enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; IHA: indirect haemagglutination assay; NA: not applicable. a Bordier Affinity Products, Crissier, Switzerland. In September 2017, a new confirmed case was diagnosed upon identification of Schistosoma eggs in urine and biopsy of a bladder wall thickening, with a 9-month gross haematuria (Table, Family 3, Case 6). Schistosoma eggs from Case 4 and Case 6 were genotyped as previously described [2]. The eggs presented the same genotype, carrying the nuclear internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region from S. haematobium and the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) gene from S. bovis. In 2014 and 2015, respectively 3,544 and 1,965 snails tested negative using microscopic techniques to observe the shedding of Schistosoma cercariae. Using a more sensitive technique relying on PCR amplification of the Schistosoma Dra repeat sequence, the 3,453 and 5,364 specimens collected in 2016 and 2017, respectively, tested negative [3]
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