Population structure and temporal variation of Oncomelania hupensis snails in a currently Schistosoma japonicum-eliminated area of China using microsatellite analyses

Abstract

Schistosomiasis is the second most important tropical disease in terms of socio-economic and public health impact among human parasitic diseases. In China, Oncomelania hupensis is the only intermediate host of Schistosoma japonicum. Despite the significant progress made, the wide distribution of O. hupensis habitats remains a major challenge to eliminating S. japonicum across China. Therefore, it is important to understand the population genetics of O. hupensis in given environment in order to guide local snail control. In this study, O. hupensis snails were collected from five snail habitats/sites (i.e., DT, JC, XG, XP and YH) in Jiaxing city in Zhejiang province of China between 2022 and 2023, and population genetic analyses were conducted based on nine microsatellites. Results showed that four O. hupensis snail populations (i.e., JC, XP and YHs) from two proximity geographically distant districts clustered together, indicating genetic exchange. Snails collected in XG and YH showed significant temporal genetic variation between two years. However, bottleneck effects were only observed in snails from two sites (JC and YH). Although the hypothesis that snail control would greatly reduce the effective population size was not completely supported by our evidence, completely eradicating snails from XG site is possible. These findings will aid in the development of more practical guidelines for local snail monitoring and control.