NOTE: The genome sequence and annotation for S. mansoni are updated in Ensembl Metazoa infrequently. For the latest genome and annotation, please visit WormBase ParaSite.

About Schistosoma mansoni

Schistosoma mansoni is one of a genus of trematodes that are commonly called blood-flukes, and is a significant parasite of humans and a major agent of the disease schistosomiasis. S. mansoni goes through several asexual reproductive stages in an intermediate host, a freshwater snail, from which many thousands of motile larval forms (cercaria) emerge. The cercaria can quickly penetrate human skin, and within a few days enter the circulatory system, where they feed on blood. The adult stage of S. mansoni has two sexes, in contrast to the hermaphroditic nature of most trematodes, and if a larva encounters a member of the opposite sex it develops into a sexually mature adult and the two larvae form a monogamous pairing. Females can lay hundreds of eggs per day, and these migrate to the intestines and then enter the environment in faeces, ready to hatch and infect snail hosts. In (intestinal) schistosomiasis, an immune response is initiated when eggs become trapped in the intestinal wall, or other organs such as the liver, and it is this severe immune response that underlies the disease pathology.

• S. mansoni data at WormBase ParaSite.
• Schistosomiasis information by CDC.

Picture credit: Public domain via Wikimedia Commons (Image source)

Taxonomy ID 6183

Data source Wellcome Sanger Institute

More information and statistics