TY - JOUR AU - Brant, Sara V. AU - Cohen, Andrew N. AU - James, David AU - Hui, Lucia AU - Hom, Albert AU - Loker, Eric S. T1 - Cercarial Dermatitis Transmitted by Exotic Marine Snail T2 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal PY - 2010 VL - 16 IS - 9 SP - 1357 SN - 1080-6059 AB - Cercarial dermatitis (swimmer’s itch) is caused by the penetration of human skin by cercariae of schistosome parasites that develop in and are released from snail hosts. Cercarial dermatitis is frequently acquired in freshwater habitats, and less commonly in marine or estuarine waters. To investigate reports of a dermatitis outbreak in San Francisco Bay, California, we surveyed local snails for schistosome infections during 2005–2008. We found schistosomes only in Haminoea japonica, an Asian snail first reported in San Francisco Bay in 1999. Genetic markers place this schistosome within a large clade of avian schistosomes, but do not match any species for which there are genetic data. It is the second known schistosome species to cause dermatitis in western North American coastal waters; these species are transmitted by exotic snails. Introduction of exotic hosts can support unexpected emergence of an unknown parasite with serious medical or veterinary implications. KW - Schistosome KW - cercarial dermatitis KW - swimmer’s itch KW - marine snail KW - nonnative KW - Haminoea KW - San Francisco Bay KW - California KW - research KW - United States DO - 10.3201/eid1609.091664 UR - https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/16/9/09-1664_article ER - End of Reference