SELECTED ARTICLE

                   SCHISTOSOMES AND SCHISTOSOMIASIS IN INDIA

                                                    BY

         G. D. BHALERAO, D.Sc., PH.D. (LOND.), F.Z.S., F.R.M.S., F.A.Sc.

                                            Helminthologist,

                     Imperial Veterinary Research Institute, Mukteswar.

[Reprinted from the " Papers on Helminthology published in commemoration of 30-
year Jubileum of the Scientific, Educational and Social activities of the Honoured Worker
of Science K. J. Skrjabin, M. Ac. Sci., and of Fifteenth Anniversary of the All-Union Institute
of Helminthology" published by the All-Union Lenin Academy of Agricultural Science,
Moscow].

ALTHOUGH fortunately schistosomiasis has not much significance in re-
gard to the welfare of mankind in India, it has assumed paramount impor-
tance in connection with the health of domestic animals in this country.
Compared with any other single group of parasites, schistosomes rank fore-
most in undermining the health of various of our domestic animals, and al-
though the exact data in this connection are not available it will not be an
exaggeration to say that they cause much inconvenience and harm to live-
stock in India, and inflict considerable monetary loss upon stock-owners in
this country. In spite of this enormous loss, no thorough attempt has yet
been made to bring together in a comprehensive manner all the maladies of
domestic animals in which schistosomes are incriminated. We cannot, how-
ever, deny credit in this direction to Montgomery who, working at this Insti-
tute, published as early as 1906 two very comprehensive papers dealing with
schistosomiasis of equines, cattle and sheep and discovered three new species
of schistosomes. Since this pioneer work of Montgomery, there have
appeared in this country, particularly in the last decade and a half, several
valuable papers dealing with this group of parasites in relation either to do-
mestic animals or human beings, and the present opportunity is, therefore,
availed of to give a short résumé of all the work done in this country on
this economically highly important group of parasites.

The earliest record of the occurrence of schistosomes in India was made
by Cobbold, who in 1882, at a meeting of the Medical Chirurgical Society in
London, declared that cattle and sheep in India are infected with schisto-
somes. Four years after this statement, Bomford reported the occurrence of
Schistosoma haematobium eggs in the large intestine of two bullocks of the
Transport Department destroyed in Calcutta. The dimensions of the egg
were 0.17 mm. × 0.08 mm. S. haematobium has never been since recorded
from cattle in this country and for this reason it is thought that the eggs

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