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Chinese experts assist Tanzania fighting snail-borne parasitic disease

01:11

A team of Chinese experts is collaborating in Tanzania to assist the East African country in establishing a professional system to prevent blood flukes, the cause of schistosomiasis, also known as bilharzia.

Pemba Island, the second-largest island in Zanzibar, is rife with streams and ponds infested by bulinus snails, the primary host of schistosomiasis. Presently, Chinese and local health experts are working together to eradicate bulinus snails from Pemba's waters.

In 2017, the first group of experts from the Jiangsu Institute of Parasitic Diseases of China was dispatched to Pemba Island to aid local residents in combating the disease. They have been exploring and implementing blood fluke control strategies tailored to local conditions, resulting in a significant decrease in the schistosomiasis infection rate in the demonstration area from 8.92 percent to 0.64 percent.

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