Life Cycle
The life cycles of Schistosoma japonicum and Schistosoma mansoni are very similar. In brief, eggs of the parasite are released in the feces and if they come in contact with water they hatch into free-swimming larva, called miracidia. The larva then has to infect a snail of the genus Oncomelania such as species of Oncomelania hupensis within one or two days. Inside the snail, the larva undergo asexual reproduction through a series of stages called sporocysts. After the asexual reproduction stage cercaria (another free-swimming larva) are generated in large quantities, which then leave (shed into the environment) the snail and must infect a suitable vertebrate host. Once the cercaria penetrates the skin of the host it loses its tail and becomes a schistosomule. The worms then migrate through the circulation ending at the mesenteric veins where they mate and start laying eggs. Each pair desposits around 1500 – 3500 eggs per day in the vessels of the intestinal wall. The eggs infiltrate through the tissues and are passed in the feces.
Read more about this topic: Schistosoma Japonicum
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