Schistosoma indicum

Schistosoma indicum is a species of digenetic trematode in the family Schistosomatidae. The parasite is widespread in domestic animals in India and other Asian countries.

Schistosoma indicum was discovered by the British scientist R. E. Montgomery, in 1906, from a horse from Mukteswar, Uttar Pradesh, India. This blood-fluke causes hepato-intestinal schistosomiasis in many domestic animals (sheep, goat, water buffalo, cattle, camel, horse, donkey, dog, but not pigs). It was responsible for an outbreak of pulmonary schistosomiasis, in 1981, in sheep in Rajasthan, leading to considerable mortality. S.indicum caused considerable mortality in the sheep flocks in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka but it was misdiagnosed as Rinder Pest, highlighting the problem of proper diagnosis of the infection in domestic animals. S.indicum has been detected from almost all the states of India and is more widespread than Schistosoma spindale.