Behaviour
Disease
Schistosomiasis life cycle. © CDC
B truncatus is one of several Bulinid species in Africa that transmits the agent of human urinary schistosomiasis, Schistosoma haematobium.
Schistosome worms can infect both humans and animals and are endemic throughout much of Africa, where approximately 477 million people are thought to be at risk from the disease and an estimated 164 million infected.
The parasite also occurs in parts of South America and the Far East utilizing other snail genera as intermediate hosts.
It is also able to transmit S bovis - a schistosome species that is a parasite of ruminants.
This parasite impacts the health and productivity of domestic cattle, placing additional economic burdens on human communities which might rely on livestock.
