This parasite has a very wide host range, infecting at least 31 species of wild mammals, including nine carnivores, 16 rodents, one primate (human), two insectivores and three artiodactyls and therefore it can be considered a true zoonosis.

[1] Schistosoma japonicum was discovered in Kofu basin by Fujiro Katsurada,[2][3] a pathologist in Okayama University in 1904.

[5] Important factors to influence transmission are age, sex of an individual, as well as the economic and educational level of a population.

As was the case of Suriname, the highest prevalence occurs in both sexes where both male and females work in fields.

With rising climate change, it is predicted that by 2050, O. hupensis will be able to cover 8.1% of the surface area of China, thus leading to greater concern to new populations being at risk to schistosomiasis.

By electron microscopy there are no bosses or spines on the dorsal surface of the male, which is ridged and presents a spongy appearance.

In brief, eggs of the parasite are released in the feces and if they come in contact with water they hatch into free-swimming larva, called miracidia.

After the asexual reproduction stage cercaria (another free-swimming larva) are generated in large quantities, which then leave (shed into the environment) the snail and must infect a suitable vertebrate host.

[citation needed] Hosts include cattle,[7][8] water buffalo, and certain other mammal species, some of which may be important for maintaining parasite transmission toward humans.

S. japonicum is the most pathogenic of the schistosoma species because it produces up to 3,000 eggs per day, ten times greater than that of S.

Some eggs may pass the liver and enter lungs, nervous system and other organs where they can adversely affect the health of the infected individual.

[5] Schistosoma japonicum is the only human blood fluke that occurs in China, Philippines, and Sri Lanka.

[9] It is the cause of schistosomiasis japonica, a disease that still remains a significant health problem especially in lake and marshland regions.

[5] Symptoms an infected person might experience include: fever, cough, abdominal pain, diarrhea, hepatosplenomegaly and eosinophilia.

Since eggs may be passed intermittently or in small amounts, their detection will be enhanced by repeated examinations and/or concentration procedures (such as the formalin – ethyl acetate technique).

[13] Eggs can be found in the urine in infections with S. haematobium (recommended time for collection: between noon and 3 PM) and with S. japonicum.

Human waste in water with the Oncomelania snail intermediate host is a major cause to the perpetuation of schistosomiasis.

[5] Controlling S. japonicum with molluscicide has proved ineffective because Oncomelania snails are amphibious and only frequent water to lay their eggs.