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schis·to·so·mi·a·sis | \ ˌshi-stə-sō-ˈmī-ə-səs 
\
\ plural schistosomiases\ ˌshi-stə-sō-ˈmī-ə-ˌsēz \
\Definition of schistosomiasis
: infestation with or disease caused by schistosomes specifically : a severe endemic disease of humans in Africa and parts of Asia and South America that is contracted when cercariae released into fresh waters (such as rivers) by a snail intermediate host penetrate the skin and that is marked especially by blood loss and tissue damage
— called also snail fever
Examples of schistosomiasis in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web The problem is not only yellow fever: Deforestation in the Amazon also creates breeding sites for the hosts and vectors of afflictions like malaria and schistosomiasis.
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National Geographic, "CREATE A FREE NAT GEO ACCOUNT TO CONTINUE READING," 19 May 2020 Beyond the consumer applications, Professor Sagi has also been involved in research on using the prawns to combat schistosomiasis, a debilitating waterborne disease that affects around 200 million people worldwide, primarily in impoverished areas.
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Lee H. Goldberg, Ars Technica, "Can gender-bending Israeli superprawns help feed the world?," 10 May 2020 Since the 1980s, efforts to eliminate schistosomiasis have primarily focused on distributing drugs to infected people.
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Chelsea L. Wood, The Conversation, "Identifying aquatic plants with drones could be the key to reducing a parasitic infection in people," 17 Jan. 2020 The environment, therefore, is key to reducing transmission of schistosomiasis to people.
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Chelsea L. Wood, The Conversation, "Identifying aquatic plants with drones could be the key to reducing a parasitic infection in people," 17 Jan. 2020 Scientists are mobilizing an all-female army to help stymie schistosomiasis, a sometimes deadly parasitic disease that affects millions of people every year.
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Jillian Kramer, Scientific American, "Single-Sex Prawns Could Aid Fight against Snail-Borne Disease," 10 Dec. 2019 The snails that carry the schistosomiasis parasite live in southern and sub-Saharan Africa, parts of Southeast Asia, South America, the Middle East and some Caribbean islands.
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Jillian Kramer, Scientific American, "Single-Sex Prawns Could Aid Fight against Snail-Borne Disease," 10 Dec. 2019 In the case of schistosomiasis, Sierra Leone has had a national control plan in place for almost a decade.
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The Economist, "How Sierra Leone is beating tropical diseases," 23 June 2018 Afraid of malaria and schistosomiasis and tick bite fever.
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Blair Braverman, Condé Nast Traveler, "Dog Sledder Blair Braverman on Learning to Live With Lions and Pythons," 8 Mar. 2018
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'schistosomiasis.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for schistosomiasis
schistosomiasis
nounschis·to·so·mi·a·sis | \ ˌshis-tə-sō-ˈmī-ə-səs , ˌskis- \
, ˌskis- \ plural schistosomiases\ -ˌsēz \
\Medical Definition of schistosomiasis
: infestation with or disease caused by schistosomes specifically : a severe endemic disease of humans in much of Africa and parts of Asia and South America that is caused by any of three trematode worms of the genus Schistosoma (S. haematobium, S. mansoni, and S. japonicum) which multiply in snail intermediate hosts and are disseminated into freshwaters as furcocercous cercariae that bore into the body when it is in contact with infested water, migrate through the tissues to the visceral venous plexuses (as of the bladder or intestine) where they attain maturity, and cause much of their injury through hemorrhage and damage to tissues resulting from the passage of the usually spiny eggs to the intestine and bladder whence they pass out to start a new cycle of infection in snail hosts
— called also bilharzia, bilharziasis, snail fever
— compare swimmer's itchComments on schistosomiasis
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The first known use of schistosomiasis was in 1906
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