Malacological Survey of Intermediate Hosts of Public Health Importance in Akure South and Owo Local Government Areas of Ondo State, Nigeria.

Abstract

Freshwater snails serve as intermediate hosts to several trematode parasites of man and animals. Their distribution in freshwater bodies correlates closely with presence or absence of disease within human and animal population in such vicinity. Most snails are host specific and occur in relative abundance in favourable freshwater habitats, particularly in the tropics. The study assessed the diversity of freshwater snails in two local government areas (LGAs)in Ondo state, Nigeria. Thirty-two sites, from Akure South (21) and Owo (11) Local Governments areas, were sampled. A total of 169 snails were collected from the two Local Government areas. Results revealed snails from 3 families, 4 genera and 5 species including Potadoma moerchi with a relative abundance of (60.9%), Potadoma freethi (8.3%), Lanestes ovum (26.0%), Melanoides tuberculata (1.2%) and Pila africana (3.6%). More freshwater snail species were found in Akure South L.G.A. 130 (76.9%) compared to Owo LGA 39 (23.1%). In Akure south L.G.A., there was a positive relationship between Lanestes ovum and water velocity as the correlation was significant at 0.01 confidence level while in Owo L.G.A, there was a positive relationship between Pila africana and water conductivity as the correlation was significant at 0.01 confidence level. Freshwater snails of public health importance were found in the two LGAs surveyed. The presence of these species in some communities in Akure South and Owo LGAs suggests that vertebrate hosts in the areas may be predisposed to trematode infections due to Schistosoma sp, Centrocetus sp, Paragonimus sp, Paraphistomum sp and Clonorchis sp, hence the need to scale up prevention and control strategies against transmission.