Recent incidence of Paragonimus westermani metacercariae in freshwater crayfish, Cambaroides similis, from two enzootic sites in Jeollanam-do, Korea

An epidemiological study was performed to know the recent infection status of Paragonimus westermani metacercariae (PwMc) in freshwater crayfish, Cambaroides similis, from 2 streams in Jeollanam-do, Republic of Korea. Crayfish were collected from creeks in Bogil-do (Island), Wando-gun, and in a creek near Daeheung Temple in Haenam-gun. The infection rate of crayfish with PwMc in Bogil-do was 89.8%, and the metacercarial burden was 37 PwMc per the infected crayfish. Crayfish in a creek near Daeheung Temple were larger and twice heavier than those in Bogil-do. Of them, 96.5% were infected with PwMc. An average of 140 metacercariae was found in the infected crayfish, almost quadruple to those of Bogil-do. There was a strong correlation between the number of PwMc and body weight of the crayfish. These results suggest that P. westermani metacercariae are still prevalent in crayfish of the 2 regions in Jeollanam-do, Korea.