This page quotes a published document. Everything below in quotation marks is copied word for word from https://capcvet.org/guidelines/schistosomiasis/, published by CAPC and retrieved on 2026-09-16. The quotations are excerpts; the document itself is linked and is the authority. Nothing has been reworded.
This page quotes the Companion Animal Parasite Council guideline for Schistosomiasis, section by section: the opening sentences of 7 sections, copied without change and linked to the guideline, which was retrieved on 2026-09-16. The guideline itself is the authority and carries the full text.
The guideline
Companion Animal Parasite Council, Schistosomiasis, at https://capcvet.org/guidelines/schistosomiasis/. Retrieved 2026-09-16. Each heading below is the guideline’s own, and the quotation under it is how that section begins. The full section, and the species tabs where the guideline gives them, are on the linked page.
Synopsis
CAPC Recommends Consider a diagnosis of canine schistosomiasis in dogs presenting for signs of persistent diarrhea (+/- blood), vomiting, hepatopathy, hypercalcemia, and weight loss. Treatment of canine schistosomiasis is not always effective.
Disease
The migration of H. americana eggs directly across the intestinal wall to the lumen induces severe granulomatous inflammation. Clinical signs in infected dogs may include diarrhea (which may be blood-tinged), vomiting, hyporexia to anorexia, weight loss, lethargy, and polyuria/polydipsia.
Prevalence
The majority of cases of canine schistosomiasis have been described in Texas and Louisiana. However, cases have also been diagnosed in dogs throughout much of the southeastern United States.
Diagnosis
Sedimentation with saline is the recommended way of detecting H. americana eggs in feces. If exposed to fresh water, the miracidium will hatch, making identification difficult.
Treatment
Treatment is often unrewarding. Severe lesions, including extensive fibrosis and mineralization, may already be present when clinical signs develop.
Control and Prevention
To avoid Heterobilharzia americana infection, dogs should not swim or wade in contaminated freshwater canals, marshes, ponds, lakes, or rivers. Routine prophylactic administration of praziquantel or fenbendazole to eliminate infections early, prior to development of disease, has been proposed but has not been evaluated experimentally.
Public Health Considerations
Heterobilharzia americana cercariae from snails have been incriminated in causing dermatitis in humans (“swimmer’s itch”) following skin penetration. Infected dogs do not pose a direct zoonotic risk to people, but their presence in a given area may increase the level of cercariae and thus contribute to schistosome-associated dermatitis.
Continue reading public health considerations on capcvet.org
Sources
- capc-schistosomiasisCAPC · retrieved 2026-09-16
“CAPC Recommends Consider a diagnosis of canine schistosomiasis in dogs presenting for signs of persistent diarrhea (+/- blood), vomiting, hepatopathy, hypercalcemia, and weight loss. Treatment” (Synopsis)
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