Metagonimiasis

a helminthic disease of the intestine; a helminthiasis.

Metagonimiasis is found in the Soviet Far East, China, Japan, and the Philippine Islands. The causative agent is the trematode Metagonimus yokogawai, which infests the small intestine of man, cats, and dogs. The feces of humans and animals with the disease contain the eggs of the parasite, from which, in water, the larvae emerge and penetrate snails. The development and reproduction of the larval generations in the snails ends with the emergence into the water of cercariae, which penetrate fish—for example, the Amur ide. Man and mammals become infested by eating raw or insufficiently cooked or salted fish.

Metagonimiasis is characterized by fever, hives, headaches, and abdominal pains in the early stages and by diarrhea later. It is treated with anthelmintics (fern extract, quinacrine) and prevented by thoroughly cooking or carefully salting fish before eating. Bodies of water should be protected against sewage pollution.