RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Agrochemical pollution increases risk of human exposure to schistosome parasites
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 161901
DO 10.1101/161901
A1 Neal T. Halstead
A1 Christopher M. Hoover
A1 Arathi Arakala
A1 David J. Civitello
A1 Giulio A. De Leo
A1 Manoj Gambhir
A1 Steve A. Johnson
A1 Kristin A. Loerns
A1 Taegan A. McMahon
A1 Karena Nguyen
A1 Thomas R. Raffel
A1 Justin V. Remais
A1 Susanne H. Sokolow
A1 Jason R. Rohr
YR 2017
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/07/11/161901.abstract
AB Roughly 10% of the global population is at risk of schistosomiasis, a snail-borne parasitic disease that ranks among the most important water-based diseases of humans in developing countries1–3. Increased prevalence, infection intensity, and spread of human schistosomiasis to non-endemic areas has been consistently linked with water resource management related to agricultural expansion, such as dam construction, which has resulted in increased snail habitat1,4–6. However, the role of agrochemical pollution in human schistosome transmission remains unexplored, despite strong evidence of agrochemicals increasing snail-borne diseases of wildlife7–9 and a projected 2- to 5-fold increase in global agrochemical use by 205010 that will disproportionately occur in schistosome-endemic regions. Using a field mesocosm experiment, we show that environmentally relevant concentrations of fertilizer, the common herbicide atrazine, and the common insecticide chlorpyrifos, individually and as mixtures, increase densities of schistosome-infected snails by increasing the algae snails eat (fertilizer and atrazine) and decreasing densities of snail predators (chlorpyrifos). Epidemiological models indicate that these agrochemical effects can increase transmission of schistosomiasis. Hence, the rapid agricultural changes occurring in schistosome-endemic regions11,12 that are driving increased agrochemical use and pollution could potentially increase the burden of schistosomiasis in these areas. Identifying agricultural practices or agrochemicals that minimize disease risk will be critical to meeting growing food demands while improving human wellbeing13,14.