Parasitic Diseases: A Drug for Snail Fever

The squishy little parasites are less than an inch long, but they cause a globe-girdling disease variously known as schistosomiasis, bilharziasis, or simply snail fever. The more man does to increase his food supply, the more he nurtures the parasites and spreads the disease. Only a few years ago, the world had an estimated 100 to 200 million schistosomiasis victims spread across much of Asia, Africa and Latin America; now the estimate is 50% higher, largely because new irrigation canals and other waterworks have enlarged the parasites' habitat.

All this assures a ready market for he new drug just announced...

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