HAIKOU, Dec. 26 (Xinhuanet) - China had reported 516 acute snail fever cases in the year ending October, a drop of 243 cases or 32 percent lover from statistics recorded in the same month last year.
That was disclosed by Qi Xiaoqiu, head of the Disease Control Department with the Ministry of Health, while attended a recent forum on construction of a public health network held in Haikou, capital of south China Hainan island province.
Qi ascribed the drop in the incidence of acute snail fever to greater attention paid to and intensified efforts made toward the battle against the disease in the country.
Carried by freshwater snails, acute snail fever, or schistosomiasis, is a parasitic disease that assaults the humans' blood and liver, which can be fatal over time. Chronic patients, who account for most who contract the disease, experience high fever, weakness of the limbs and severe stiffness of the joints.
Snail fever was controlled before the 1980s in the world's most populous country. However, dramatic changes in biological, naturaland economical factors have caused a resurgence in recent years.
Snail fever has been spotted in seven provinces on the Chinese mainland, with more than 843, 000 people being infected with the disease in the country. Enditem
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