Epidemiology and eradication of schistosomiasis japonica in Japan

Abstract

Schistosomiasis japonica, which was a highly localized endemic disease with considerable public health implications, with 15,472 cases and 1134 deaths over a period of 30 years from 1950 to 1979, has been eradicated from Japan. Although the intermediate host snail Oncomelania nosophora still survives in the rice fields, there is no worry of its resurgence as neither humans nor farming oxen or wild rodents have discharged Schistosoma japonicum eggs in stool for more than a decade.