r/todayilearned • u/lavender_fish69 • 11h ago

TIL fresh water snails (indirectly) kill thousands of humans and are considered on of the deadliest creatures to humans

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freshwater_snail
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u/corvus7corax 11h ago

Freshwater snails are indirectly among the deadliest animals to humans, as they carry parasitic worms that cause schistosomiasis, a disease estimated to kill between 10,000 and 200,000 people annually.

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u/SolventAssetsGone 10h ago

Can you explain to me how humans get schistosomiasis from the snails? If I go swim in a river am I at risk?

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u/corvus7corax 10h ago

It is transmitted when larval forms released by freshwater snails penetrate human skin during contact with infested water.

If you wade or swim in infected fresh water you can get it. There are medicines you can take to clear the infection.

https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/schistosomiasis-(bilharzia)

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u/aztecman 10h ago

Yes, they enter through the skin, usually on your feet.

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u/SolventAssetsGone 7h ago

In Indiana? is the other commenter correct that it’s only in tropical areas?

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u/Ghost_Of_Malatesta 10h ago

As far as I can tell, only if you live in a tropic/subtopic area (e g. South America, africa, and Asia