Schistosomiasis mansoni in the Southwest of the State of Minas Gerais (Brazil)

Abstract

A new focus of schisiosomiasis mansoni at Passos, a town in the Southwest of the State of Minas Gerais (Brazil), region until now considered free of the disease is reported. Malacological surveys showed Biophalaria glabrata naturally infected with Schistosoma mansoni in a country club near Passos. All B. straminea captured at the pisciculture station of the Furnas hydroeletric dam were negative. Six out of seven individuals living in the country club were found to be infected with S. mansoni, including four children who had never been out of Passos. The epidemiological importance of these findings is discussed.