Investigation of parasite species in the family schistosomatidae in wetlands using fecal, water and molluscum samples

The avian schistosomes constitute a large part of the parasite species in the Schistosomatidae family, with more than 100 species in 18 defined genera. Cercariae of avian schistosomes, which use birds as final hosts and aquatic molluscs as intermediate hosts, are pathogenic for humans. Cercariae, that incidentally penetrates into human skin, cause itchy skin problems called as "Cercarial Dermatitis". In some research on mammals, it has been observed that avian schistosome species can migrate through the skin and cause serious pathologies such as paralysis and respiratory problems. Therefore, researchers think that it is possible for avian schistosome species to migrate in humans in some special cases and these parasites may cause health problems much more dangerous than a simple dermatitis epidemic. With this project, avian schistosome species were investigated for the first time in Turkiye. The research was carried out at 8 different areas determined in Ankara, Samsun, Sinop and Zonguldak provinces. The material of the study consisted of 120 liters of water samples collected from wetlands, 1533 mollusca samples and 496 fecal samples mainly collected from songbirds. During the microscopic examination of the fecal samples collected from birds, it was determined that the some parasite eggs obtained from one garden warbler were Anserobilharzia brantae and the parasite eggs obtained from one barn swallow were Trichobilharzia sp. Besides that, the parasite eggs obtained from one common whitethroat and one barred warbler were defined as Gigantobilharzia sp. With the results obtained, for the first time, avian schistosome species were detected in gray warbler, striped warbler, masked warbler and prairie swallow.