Schistosomiasis in Lake Malawi and the Potential Use of Indigenous Fish for Biological Control

Schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease of major public health importance in many countries in Africa, Asia, and South America, with an estimated 200 million people infected worldwide (World Health Organization, 2002). The disease is caused by trematodes of the genus Schistosoma that require specific freshwater snail species to complete their life cycles (Fig. 1). People contract schistosomiasis when they come in contact with water containing the infective larval stage (cercariae) of the trematode.