A LARGE-SCALE EXPERIMENT IN THE CONTROL OF AQUATIC SNAILS BY THE USE OF MOLLUSCICIDES ON A SUGAR ESTATE IN THE NORTHERN REGION OF TANGANYIKA

The author describes a large-scale experiment in which the molluscicide Bayer 73 (Bayluscide) was used in an attempt to eliminate Biomphalaria pfeifferi, the snail host of Schistosoma mansoni, from an irrigation system in Tanganyika. Applied at a concentration of 1 p.p.m., the molluscicide gave a very high kill of snails and much of the treated area remained completely free of vector snails for seven months after treatment. However, there were a few survivors in small pockets associated with a drainage area that became flooded during heavy rains coincident with the application of molluscicide. From these survivors a dramatic resurgence of snails occurred in some of the treated canals. This resurgence may be analogous to similar phenomena observed in some insecticide work. The suggestion is made that removal of parasites and predators, in particular trematode parasites, by a molluscicide might increase the snail's capacity for repopulation. Studies of the seasonal fluctuations of snail population density in an adjacent, but separate, irrigation system suggest that molluscicide applications would be more effective if timed to coincide with the end of the rainy seasons.