The burden of schistosomiasis remains a global public health problem,especially in sub-Saharan Africa despite progress in terms of morbidity control.Successful control efforts achieved by China in the last six decades came with considerable experience and lessons that could benefit schistosomiasis control programs in other endemic countries.China's role and commitment to global health cooperation has become increasingly important;this has created a platform for partnership with developing partners for the establishment of Forum on China-Africa health cooperation which prioritizes the pursuit of global elimination target for schistosomiasis and malaria,control of HIV/AIDS,and improved access to reproductive health care.Chinese government's commitment towards achieving schistosomiasis elimination in Africa prompted the establishment of Institution-based Network on China-Africa Cooperation for Schistosomiasis Elimination (INCAS),by the National Institute of Parasitic Diseases to promote schistosomiasis elimination in Africa.Schistosomiasis experts from six provincial institutions and counterparts from 10 African countries participated in the first workshop on China-Africa cooperation for Schistosomiasis Elimination in Africa at Lilongwe,Malawi,in 2015.Experts at the inaugural meeting shared experiences from their national schistosomiasis control programs,as well as identified areas for collaborative synergy targeting schistosomiasis elimination in Africa.The establishment of INCAS,which comprises of 28 member-institutions from China and Africa,was proposed at this meeting.We,therefore,provide information on INCAS activities,cooperation mechanism,as well as assess the strengths,weaknesses,opportunities,and threats as we target schistosomiasis elimination in Africa using the INCAS platform.

Schistosoma haematobium is one of the most prevalent parasitic flatworms, infecting over 112 million people in Africa. However, little is known about the genetic diversity of natural S. haematobium populations from the human host because of the inaccessible location of adult worms in the host. We used 4 microsatellite loci to genotype individually pooled S. haematobium eggs directly from each patient sampled at 4 endemic locations in Africa. We found that the average allele number of individuals from Mali was significantly higher than that from Nigeria. In addition, no significant difference in allelic composition was detected among the populations within Nigeria; however, the allelic composition was significantly different between Mali and Nigeria populations. This study demonstrated a high level of genetic variability of S. haematobium in the populations from Mali and Nigeria, the 2 major African endemic countries, suggesting that geographical population differentiation may occur in the regions.
Adolescent ; Animals ; Child ; Female ; *Genetic Variation ; Genotype ; Humans ; Male ; Mali ; Microsatellite Repeats ; Nigeria ; Schistosoma haematobium/*classification/*genetics/isolation & purification ; Schistosomiasis haematobia/*parasitology

Schistosoma haematobium is one of the most prevalent parasitic flatworms, infecting over 112 million people in Africa. However, little is known about the genetic diversity of natural S. haematobium populations from the human host because of the inaccessible location of adult worms in the host. We used 4 microsatellite loci to genotype individually pooled S. haematobium eggs directly from each patient sampled at 4 endemic locations in Africa. We found that the average allele number of individuals from Mali was significantly higher than that from Nigeria. In addition, no significant difference in allelic composition was detected among the populations within Nigeria; however, the allelic composition was significantly different between Mali and Nigeria populations. This study demonstrated a high level of genetic variability of S. haematobium in the populations from Mali and Nigeria, the 2 major African endemic countries, suggesting that geographical population differentiation may occur in the regions.
Adolescent ; Animals ; Child ; Female ; *Genetic Variation ; Genotype ; Humans ; Male ; Mali ; Microsatellite Repeats ; Nigeria ; Schistosoma haematobium/*classification/*genetics/isolation & purification ; Schistosomiasis haematobia/*parasitology