To the Editor:Abeleda et al.[1]recently argued in a perspective article that the Philippines should do better in order to achieve its goal of reducing schistosomiasis incidence to zero in humans,animals,and snails by ...To the Editor:Abeleda et al.[1]recently argued in a perspective article that the Philippines should do better in order to achieve its goal of reducing schistosomiasis incidence to zero in humans,animals,and snails by 2025[2,3].The authors appropriately ascribed the need to ramp up surveillance,WASH(water,sanitation,and hygiene),and veterinary efforts.In this letter,I would like to add to the discussion that the key to achieving schistosomiasis elimination may be strengthening the veterinary public health sector and framing mitigation efforts within the One Health lens.Schistosoma(S.)japonicum infection is a zoonotic disease and it affects more than 40 species of animals,including livestock animals like cattle,pigs,and water buffaloes,and pets like dogs[4].In the Philippines,the prevalence of infection in animal reservoirs remains largely unknown in most endemic areas due to the lack of concerted epidemiological efforts unlike what is being done in human hosts.In areas where studies have been done,infection rates are from less than 10%to 97%in water buffaloes tested[5-7].Indeed,as Abeleda et al.[1]argued,there is a need to do better on this front.展开更多
文摘To the Editor:Abeleda et al.[1]recently argued in a perspective article that the Philippines should do better in order to achieve its goal of reducing schistosomiasis incidence to zero in humans,animals,and snails by 2025[2,3].The authors appropriately ascribed the need to ramp up surveillance,WASH(water,sanitation,and hygiene),and veterinary efforts.In this letter,I would like to add to the discussion that the key to achieving schistosomiasis elimination may be strengthening the veterinary public health sector and framing mitigation efforts within the One Health lens.Schistosoma(S.)japonicum infection is a zoonotic disease and it affects more than 40 species of animals,including livestock animals like cattle,pigs,and water buffaloes,and pets like dogs[4].In the Philippines,the prevalence of infection in animal reservoirs remains largely unknown in most endemic areas due to the lack of concerted epidemiological efforts unlike what is being done in human hosts.In areas where studies have been done,infection rates are from less than 10%to 97%in water buffaloes tested[5-7].Indeed,as Abeleda et al.[1]argued,there is a need to do better on this front.
