Journal of Molluscan Research, (JMR) Volume 9, 2022
*Okwa, O.O., Yekeen, S.O., Tajudeen, Y and Opoku, R
ABSTRACT
African land snails possess economic, nutritive, medicinal and traditional values. However, they have been implicated as hosts and transmitters of certain parasites that pose health risks to humans. To investigate the prevalence of parasites in these snails, we examined the intestines and slime of 100 edible giant land snails comprising of 50 reared and 50 wild snails. The three snail species identified Archachatina marginata (36),Achatina fulica (30) and Achatina achatina (34) were analyzed for their intestinal and slime contents using wet mount preparation, floatation and concentration techniques before examination by microscopy.
Our findings revealed that 36 of the land snails were infected with parasites. Among the infected snails 66.7% were reared snails and 33.3% were wild snails. Three parasites species were detected with Strongyloides stercoralis larvae been the most prevalent at 38.9%, followed by Angiostrongylus cantonensis with 22.2% and Dicrocoelium dentriticum with 5.6%.
Archachatina marginata was the most infected snail species with 50% having more parasites in the slime and intestine than the other two species. Conversely, A. fulica was the least infected with only 16.7% having parasites. Notably, more parasites were found in the slimes with 66.7% while 33.3% had parasites in the intestine. Further analysis showed that 58.3% of reared snails and 83.3% of wild snails had parasites in the slime whereas 41.7% of reared snails and 16.7% of wild snails had parasites in the intestine. This survey underscores the presence of parasites in edible land snails and the potential health risks they pose to humans who consume them raw or undercooked.
Keywords: African land snails, Parasites, Prevalence, Health risks
