1. What are schistosomiasis and schistosomiasis?
Schistosoma is a very small insect, about 2 cm in length, and it is distinguished between female and male. Adult worms have suckers in their mouth and abdomen, so they are called trematodes. Because they are parasitic in the blood vessels of humans, cattle, sheep and other mammals and live on blood, they are called schistosomes. There are five kinds of diseases that can infect humans and animals: Schistosoma japonicum, Schistosoma mansoni, Schistosoma haematobium, Schistosoma intercalated and Schistosoma mekongi. Schistosoma japonicum is endemic in my country, named after the Japanese first discovered it in 1904.
The disease caused by schistosomiasis in humans, cattle, sheep and pigs is called schistosomiasis. When people are infected with schistosomiasis to the late stage, their belly gradually swells, which is also called "bellied belly disease."


2. How is schistosomiasis spread?
Adult worms lay eggs in mammalian blood vessels. Some of the eggs flow into the liver with blood, causing liver damage, and the other part of the eggs are excreted in feces. The worm eggs hatch out of miracidia in the water, and the larvae penetrate into the snails to develop into cercariae. The cercariae escape from the snails and swim in the water. It only takes 10 seconds to penetrate the skin into the body through the skin and gradually Develop into adults. Such a cycle will cause the spread and prevalence of schistosomiasis.


3. What is "epidemic water"?
The water containing cercariae of schistosome is called diseased water.


4. To eliminate schistosomiasis, why must snails be eliminated?
Oncomelania snails are the only intermediate host of snails. Schistosoma larvae can develop into cercariae only when they are parasitic in the snails. If the snails do not encounter the snails, they will die. Therefore, where there are snails, schistosomiasis may be prevalent. Oncomelania containing cercariae are called male snails. Positive snails have only water. Even a drop of dew or moist soil can escape cercariae and infect humans and animals.


5. Which domestic animals are susceptible to schistosomiasis?
There are mainly cattle, sheep, pigs, dogs and other domestic animals.


6. Why do livestock also need to control schistosomiasis?
On the one hand, the production performance of infected livestock will be reduced, and may even lead to death, causing certain economic losses; more importantly, schistosomiasis is a zoonotic disease, and infected livestock will continue to threaten human safety. Because livestock (especially cattle) defecate everywhere and the amount is large, infected livestock has become an important source of infection. Therefore, timely detection and treatment of livestock schistosomiasis is an essential part of schistosomiasis control.


7. What season is most susceptible?
Because the optimum temperature for cercariae infection is 15-30℃, our city is susceptible from March to November, and the chance of infection is the highest in July to September. During the flood season, the temperature is high, the humidity is high, and the rain is heavy. Oncomelania snails are most active, with more cercariae escaping, and strong vitality. At this stage, humans and animals have more chances to come into contact with contaminated water due to production and life, and they are easily infected.


8. What are the main symptoms of schistosomiasis in livestock?
The symptoms and pathological changes of infected livestock are closely related to the type of animal, age, intensity of infection, nutritional status, and feeding management. Yellow cattle are heavier than buffaloes, dairy cattle are heavier than local cattle, calves are heavier than big cattle, goats are less tolerant than yellow cattle, pigs also have obvious symptoms after a large number of infections, horses, donkeys and dogs generally do not show obvious symptoms .
The acute type mostly occurs in cattle under 3 years old, especially dairy cows, and its symptoms are obvious. Manifested as fever, diarrhea (mucus, blood, etc. mixed in the stool), and finally died of exhaustion.
Chronic adult scalpers generally have milder infections and have good appetite and spirit, but they all show weight loss and sometimes diarrhea; those with heavier infections have thick and erect coats, lack of energy, chills, weight loss, and reduced farming ability.
Acute symptoms of sheep and goats are mainly manifested as loss of appetite, weight loss, diarrhea, diarrhea, anemia, and severe cases lead to exhaustion and death.
In addition to sick calves within 6 months of birth, which have symptoms such as diarrhea, arched back, rough coat, and anemia, as the age increases, although the chance of infection in the water increases, the symptoms disappear by themselves without treatment.
After the pig is infected with schistosomiasis, the growth is slow, weight loss, rough coat, anemia, diarrhea, stunting, walking weakness, chronic weight loss, severe cases can cause death.


9. What should I do if livestock is infected with schistosomiasis?
Schistosomiasis is not terrible, it is preventable and curable. Livestock infected with schistosomiasis should be diagnosed at the local animal husbandry and veterinary station as soon as possible, and praziquantel should be used for safe, effective oral treatment with low side effects. Method of administration: The dosage of praziquantel is calculated according to the body weight of livestock, once orally (30 mg/kg body weight for cattle, 25 mg/kg body weight for buffalo, 20 mg/kg body weight for sheep, 60 mg/kg body weight for pigs, Cat 2.5-5 mg/kg body weight). At the same time, it is necessary to strengthen the management of the feces discharged by sick animals and collect the feces of sick animals for harmless treatment to prevent water pollution and the spread of schistosomiasis.


10. How to prevent schistosomiasis in livestock?
Livestock owners should not allow livestock to come into contact with infected water, or graze in snail-containing environments, and manage livestock manure; in severely affected areas, preventive feeding of praziquantel to grazing livestock.


11. Why should we manage livestock manure? How to manage?
In areas where schistosomiasis is endemic, cattle, sheep, pigs and other domestic animals are the main sources of schistosomiasis infection. Their feces contain a large number of eggs and pollute the environment with snails. Therefore, strengthening the management of livestock and preventing their feces from polluting the environment, that is, preventing fresh feces from entering rivers, is of great significance for controlling the spread of schistosomiasis.
The main methods of livestock management are: livestock breeding, grazing is prohibited, and cattle are replaced by machines.