Meeting Abstract
Schistosomiasis is parasitic disease that remains a problem in many tropical and subtropical regions throughout the world, especially in developing countries, with different species of parasites infecting a wide spectrum of mammalian hosts. We used a longitudinal study design to investigate the patterns of Schistosoma spp. infection in a wildlife host species, African Buffalo in Kruger National Park South Africa. We used a serum ELISA to an antigen produced by female worms which quantitatively represents active adult worm burden to determine that there was significant longitudinal variation in worm burden within individuals. Animals had an increase in burden over the capture period, with increases in each dry season and decreases in the following wet season. Whether an animal demonstrated a loss or gain in burden between capture session correlated with the likelihood of exposure (season), as well as the degree of susceptibility (changes in immunity).
