Burkina Faso is located in Sub-Saharan Africa, one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change and neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Schistosomiasis is the second most common NTD. Schistosomes are dynamic systems with complex ecology, which tend to adjust to environmental changes. Although diverse factors impact distribution, climate is a major driver that influences their epidemiology. On a global scale, given the average impact of schistosomiasis combined with 200 to 300 million people estimated to have the disease, the number of healthy years of life lost to schistosomiasis becomes large, with estimates in the order of 6–13.5 million Disability-adjusted Life Years (DALYs) lost. From this newer, disability-focused perspective, prevention of schistosome infection and reinfection becomes the priority for control of the disease. Since 2004, under the auspices of the World Health Organization, Burkina, through the national schistosomiasis control program, has been fighting against this pathogen. Despite these efforts it is estimated that the number of infected people has not decreased and could even increase in the absence of further precautions. The first identification of snails acting as intermediate hosts for schistosomes in Burkina was in 1980s, and its geographical distribution and especially infection status have not been updated. This project aims to fill this significant gap. For this purpose, MaxEnt, a species distribution modelling method, will be use to predict current distributions of schistosomes intermediate hosts in the Kou valley, Ouagadougou and Fada N’Gourma located in western, central and eastern of Burkina Faso, respectively and assess the relative contributions of climatic factors in latest twenty years. In addition, the natural infection of freshwater snails by schistosomes will be monitored by a common diagnostic method based on cercarial shedding associated with the loop-mediate isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay. This work will provide an up-to-date cartography of the outbreaks throughout the region.

02 Mémoires de Master soutenus:
- Distribution spatiale des mollusques hôtes intermédiaires de Schistosoma haematobium et Schistosoma mansoni au Burkina Faso;

-Distribution et diversité de la faune parasitaire des mollusques hôtes intermédiaires de shistosomes dans les régions du Centre et des Hauts-Bassins du Burkina Faso.

Des articles (04) en préparation

Rapport de fin de projet rendu et accepté par TWAS en Mai 2022