ATRAP

Snail-borne diseases, including schistosomiasis, form a major public and veterinary health burden, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite regular mass drug administration schistosomiasis continues to (re-)emerge. Research demonstrated that limited knowledge, risky water practices, and negative attitudes and beliefs about schistosomiasis increase the risk of infection. Therefore, snail control and health education are essential components of elimination programs. In this project we want to develop a novel snail-monitoring approach that can be executed by non-specialists: citizens will be actively involved in snail monitoring, but will also act as communicators to the wider community. Apart from effective sensitisation and education, this ‘citizen science’ approach will allow for a significant increase in the scale and resolution of snail monitoring, generating the much-anticipated ecological data to create reliable risk maps and help policymakers in targeted snail control.