Biodiversity of Freshwater Snails and Their Potency as Cercariae Host in Sungai Papuyu Village (Hulu Sungai Utara District, South Kalimantan)

Helminthiasis may be caused by helminth that spends its live cycle within certain type of snail in the water, which usually penetrates human’s skin. Generally, snail-borne disease distribution highly depend on spatial distribution of suitable snail host. By controlling snail populations, it is expected to also control the helminthiasis in human population indirectly. We have done an observational research to explore the biodiversity indices of freshwater snail in water body of Sungai Papuyu Village, District of Hulu Sungai Utara - South Kalimantan. The site was chosen due to its regular basis of helminthiasis case throughout the previous years. Samplings were done twice, the first was in August 2014 and the second was in September. We collected snail samples using 1x1m quadrant along the water body of Sungai Papuyu Village. Each collection was repeated three times and transect site was separated 100m from each other. All collected snails were identified to genus level and the number of each genus was recorded for Biodiversity indices measurement. From both sampling, we have collected 276 snails from six genus. All six genus were found in the first sampling, while only four of the six genus were found in the second sampling. Biodiversity indices measurement (abundance, heterogeneity, evenness, and dominance) showed that this community was quite stable and the snails inside it were averagely diverse. Low level of dominance indicated that the chance for the snails to become intermediate host of helminthiasis was equal. Additionally, from the first sampling we found that Pila and Lymnaea were positive for cercariae, while only Lymnaea was positive in the second sampling. We also have identified that the cercariae was included in Gymnocephalous type, and Fasciola sp. was one of the species within this group of cercariae. This finding suggests that the local authority and community should be given information of the abundance of snails in their area in order to increase their awareness of cercariae prevention.