Annals of Tropical Medicine & Parasitology
ISSN: 0003-4983 (Print) 1364-8594 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ypgh19
First record of Bulinus truncatus (Audouin) in Jordan E. K. Saliba, Ahmad Masa'deh & Mohamed Reda To cite this article: E. K. Saliba, Ahmad Masa'deh & Mohamed Reda (1976) First record of Bulinus truncatus (Audouin) in Jordan, Annals of Tropical Medicine & Parasitology, 70:3, 369-370, DOI: 10.1080/00034983.1976.11687134 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00034983.1976.11687134
Published online: 15 Mar 2016.
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Citing articles: 1 View citing articles
Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=ypgh19 Download by: [Australian Catholic University]
Date: 11 August 2017, At: 07:26
Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, Vol. 70, No.3 (1976)
First record of Bulinus truncatus (Audouin) in Jordan
Downloaded by [Australian Catholic University] at 07:26 11 August 2017
Jordan has been known as a schistosomiasis-free country despite a few periodically reported patients who had earlier lived in endemic countries in the Middle East. Absence of the snail intermediate host in previous surveys (Abdel Azim and Gismann, 1956; Chu, 1969) was considered a key factor in the absence of the disease from Jordan.
SYRIA
Wa d .1 Zeglab ' \
r" """--\ I
I J
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''\
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/ /
- - -,., .... ..J'
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,"
"'I
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\
'I\
JORDAN
I
l '\
_r,_
(J
,,,
Jerus1'tem
I
*
0
20
40
60 k
Muthalath AI_ Masri Aru
Fie. Map of surveyed area showing the focus of Bulinus truncatus.
A case of urinary schistosomiasis diagnosed in January, 1975 (unpublished report) aroused concern. When interviewed by one of us (A.M.), the patient (19 yr) claimed he had never left Jordan and had worked for a few years as a fanner in the jordan Valley where canals are used extensively for irrigation. Although the autochthony of the case was questionable, a survey of snails in the jordan Valley was carried out between March and November, 1975; 64 localities were surveyed but none of the snails collected were of
Downloaded by [Australian Catholic University] at 07:26 11 August 2017
370
BULINUS TRUNCATUS IN JORDAN
medical importance. However, on October 15, 1975, specimens of Bulinus truncatus (Audouin), an intermediate host of Schistosoma haematobium, were collected from a cemented reservoir in Muthalath Al-Masri area about 13 km south of Deir Alia village (Fig.). Hundreds of snails thrived in this reservoir. which often receives water from· the nearby East Ghor Canal. This canal receives water from the Yarmuk River on the northern borders of the country, and occasionally from Wadi Zeglab and Zarqa River, and carries it to different parts of the valley. Because of the importance of this observation and the ecological potential which the Jordan Valley could provide to this snail, intensive investigations will be carried out to identify any other breeding sites and to determine how the B. truncatus became established in the reservoir. We wish to thank Dr. E. S. Demian, Zoology Department, Ain Shams University and Drs. A. Zein Al-Abedeen and M. Z. Rushdi, Schistosomiasis Research Laboratory, National Research Centre, Cairo, for their help in snail identification.
E. K.
SALIBA
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan. AHMAD
MAsA'DEH
MoHAMED REnA
Ministry of Health, Amman, Jordan.
Received 15 January 1976 REFERENCES ABoEL Azuc, M. & GISMANN, A. (1956). Bulletin of the World Health Organization, If, 4{)3-456.
CHU, K. Y. (1969). Summary report. World Health Organization, Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, 4 pp.
ISSN: 0003-4983 (Print) 1364-8594 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ypgh19
First record of Bulinus truncatus (Audouin) in Jordan E. K. Saliba, Ahmad Masa'deh & Mohamed Reda To cite this article: E. K. Saliba, Ahmad Masa'deh & Mohamed Reda (1976) First record of Bulinus truncatus (Audouin) in Jordan, Annals of Tropical Medicine & Parasitology, 70:3, 369-370, DOI: 10.1080/00034983.1976.11687134 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00034983.1976.11687134
Published online: 15 Mar 2016.
Submit your article to this journal
View related articles
Citing articles: 1 View citing articles
Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=ypgh19 Download by: [Australian Catholic University]
Date: 11 August 2017, At: 07:26
Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, Vol. 70, No.3 (1976)
First record of Bulinus truncatus (Audouin) in Jordan
Downloaded by [Australian Catholic University] at 07:26 11 August 2017
Jordan has been known as a schistosomiasis-free country despite a few periodically reported patients who had earlier lived in endemic countries in the Middle East. Absence of the snail intermediate host in previous surveys (Abdel Azim and Gismann, 1956; Chu, 1969) was considered a key factor in the absence of the disease from Jordan.
SYRIA
Wa d .1 Zeglab ' \
r" """--\ I
I J
""'--
'-
- .,.,
''\
"'-"-
/ /
- - -,., .... ..J'
/
,"
"'I
"'
\
'I\
JORDAN
I
l '\
_r,_
(J
,,,
Jerus1'tem
I
*
0
20
40
60 k
Muthalath AI_ Masri Aru
Fie. Map of surveyed area showing the focus of Bulinus truncatus.
A case of urinary schistosomiasis diagnosed in January, 1975 (unpublished report) aroused concern. When interviewed by one of us (A.M.), the patient (19 yr) claimed he had never left Jordan and had worked for a few years as a fanner in the jordan Valley where canals are used extensively for irrigation. Although the autochthony of the case was questionable, a survey of snails in the jordan Valley was carried out between March and November, 1975; 64 localities were surveyed but none of the snails collected were of
Downloaded by [Australian Catholic University] at 07:26 11 August 2017
370
BULINUS TRUNCATUS IN JORDAN
medical importance. However, on October 15, 1975, specimens of Bulinus truncatus (Audouin), an intermediate host of Schistosoma haematobium, were collected from a cemented reservoir in Muthalath Al-Masri area about 13 km south of Deir Alia village (Fig.). Hundreds of snails thrived in this reservoir. which often receives water from· the nearby East Ghor Canal. This canal receives water from the Yarmuk River on the northern borders of the country, and occasionally from Wadi Zeglab and Zarqa River, and carries it to different parts of the valley. Because of the importance of this observation and the ecological potential which the Jordan Valley could provide to this snail, intensive investigations will be carried out to identify any other breeding sites and to determine how the B. truncatus became established in the reservoir. We wish to thank Dr. E. S. Demian, Zoology Department, Ain Shams University and Drs. A. Zein Al-Abedeen and M. Z. Rushdi, Schistosomiasis Research Laboratory, National Research Centre, Cairo, for their help in snail identification.
E. K.
SALIBA
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan. AHMAD
MAsA'DEH
MoHAMED REnA
Ministry of Health, Amman, Jordan.
Received 15 January 1976 REFERENCES ABoEL Azuc, M. & GISMANN, A. (1956). Bulletin of the World Health Organization, If, 4{)3-456.
CHU, K. Y. (1969). Summary report. World Health Organization, Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, 4 pp.
