Schistosoma mansoni along Lake Albert, Kibale District, Western Uganda

Four hundred and fifty one human strata living in the three fishing villages of Ndiaga, Kabukanga and Rwabikongoro along Lake Albert shore in Kibale District were examined for S. mansoni infection using Kato/Katz method. Of the 451 people, 409 (90.7%) were found infected with S. mansoni with geometric mean egg count of 561.3 eggs per gram (epg) faeces. Males had significantly higher mean egg counts than females, 608.3 epg and 415.6 epg respectively. All S. mansoni infected individuals were treated with praziquantel at 40 mg/kg body weight. Other common parasites observed were Asaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura and hookworms. These were treated with mebendazole. Snail infection rate among the 115 Biomphalaria sudanica and the 56 B. stanleyi were 5.2% and 3.6% respectively. All the 66 Bulinus (B) tropicus found, were negative for cercariae shedding. The main pulmonate snails were 250 Lymnae natalensis, 500 Pila ovata and 375 Bellamya spp were the commonest prosobranchs followed by Bivalves (101).