Distribution of natural epidemic foci of Angiostrongylus cantonensis in Jiangxi Province

In order to investigate the distribution of natural epidemic foci of Angiostrongylus cantonesis(A.cantonesis) in Jiangxi,8 administrative villages were selected randomly from 8 counties/cities/districts according to the river system in Jiangxi,and the distribution and infection status of intermediate host,paratenic host and definitive host of A.cantonesis were surveyed.The positive rates of mouse stool with A.cantonesis in Huichang,Xingfeng,Ruijing,Zhanggong and Qingyuan were 3.23%,6.49%,2.30%,2.44%,2.99% and 1.43%,respectively.And there was no A.cantonesis in stool of mouse colleted from Taihe and Guixi.Apart from Jingxian,other 7 counties had Pomacea canaliculata breeding regions naturally.The infection rates of Pomacea canaliculata with A.cantonesis in Huichang,Xingfeng,Taihe,and Qianyuan were 15.52%,12.07%,1.87% and 2.59%,respectively.And there was no infected snail with A.cantonesis found in Zhanggong,Ruijin and Guixi.Land slugs collected from 6 counties were examined.Land slugs infected with A.cantonesis were found in 4 counties with the highest infection rate of 11.32% in Qingyuan.The positive rate of frogs with A.cantonesis ranged from 0% in Gruixi to 10.91% in Jingxian.It could be concluded that Pomacea canaliculata inhabit in southeast areas of Jiangxi and have been infected with the third stage larvae of A.cantonesis.As Jiangxi residents have the tradition of eating snail,health education and surveillance would play an important role in A.cantonensis control.