Integrating genomic and epidemiologic data to accelerate progress toward schistosomiasis elimination
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Anschutz, United States
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, United States
- Department of Biology, University of Texas at Arlington, United States
- Sichuan Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, China
Figures
Figure 1
A framework for tailoring schistosomiasis control interventions to target key drivers of infection.
The involvement of multiple definitive host species and the degree to which transmission occurs at local to regional geographic scales influences which interventions are most likely to be effective. Mass drug administration (MDA) is currently the primary intervention used to control schistosomiasis. We argue it is most effective at reducing the burden of schistosomiasis if infections are confined to human hosts and are acquired locally (light blue arrows). If humans are the only definitive hosts involved but human movement connects multiple transmission sites, additional environmental interventions that control transmission may be necessary to avoid post-treatment resurgence and/or re-introduction via host movement (dark blue arrows). Environmental interventions include the provision of safe sanitation to reduce the emissions of schistosomes into the environment, snail control to reduce the asexual replication of schistosomes in the environment, and the provision of abundant, cercaria-free water supplies to reduce exposure through water contact. If multiple definitive host species are involved in transmission, veterinary interventions that target non-human hosts (e.g., livestock treatment or surveillance of wildlife populations) should be layered onto MDA if infections are acquired locally (yellow arrows) or implemented in combination with MDA and environmental interventions if infections are acquired across regional scales (red arrows).
Tables
Table 1
Number of studies of schistosomiasis epidemiology employing molecular methods by data generation method, study question, and study scale.
| Data generation method | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsatellite | mtDNA/rDNA | RAD/Exome/WGS | |||||||||||
| Study question | LAB | LOC | REG | CON | LAB | LOC | REG | CON | LAB | LOC | REG | CON | Total |
| Population structure | 0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 15 |
| Hybridization | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| Drug resistance | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Host species identification | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Lineage origins/diversification | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| Morbidity/phenotype | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Transmission persistence | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Worm natural history | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 0 | 21 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 47* |
-
Study scale abbreviations: LAB = laboratory study; LOC = local scale (tens of km; neighboring villages); REG = regional scale (hundreds of km; neighboring countries); CON = continental scale (thousands of km; non-neighboring countries). Categories informed by those used by Rey et al., 2021a; *Adding totals across question types and generation methods exceeds 47 because some studies employed multiple data generation methods (e.g., they use both microsatellites and mtDNA markers) and/or addressed multiple types of questions (e.g., population structure and host species identification). Search terms used to identify these studies are provided in Appendix 1. A list of all studies included in this table is provided in Supplementary file 1 and another version of this table that lists which studies are counted in which cells is provided in Supplementary file 2.
Additional files
-
Supplementary file 1
List of 47 studies of schistosomiasis epidemiology employing molecular methods with details on data generation method, study question, and study scale.
- https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/79320/elife-79320-supp1-v1.xlsx
-
Supplementary file 2
References of 47 studies of schistosomiasis epidemiology employing molecular methods by data generation method, study question, and study scale.
- https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/79320/elife-79320-supp2-v1.xlsx
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Integrating genomic and epidemiologic data to accelerate progress toward schistosomiasis elimination
eLife 11:e79320.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.79320
