Schistosoma bovis
species of worm
Schistosoma bovis is a two-host blood fluke, that causes intestinal schistosomiasis in ruminants in North Africa, Mediterranean Europe and the Middle East. S. bovis is mostly transmitted by Bulinus freshwater snail species. It is one of nine haematobium group species and exists in the same geographical areas as Schistosoma haematobium, with which it can hybridise. S. bovis-haematobium hybrids can infect humans, and have been reported in Senegal since 2009, and a 2013 outbreak in Corsica.
Taxonomy and identification
Schistosoma bovis is a digenetic, two-host blood fluke. It was discovered by Italian parasitologist Prospero Sonsino at Zagazig meat market in Egypt in 1876 from a bull. It is generally similar to other schistosomes, but Sonsino knew that it was larger and its eggs were different from those of the human species (first and only known schistosome at the time), Schistosoma haematobium, discovered by a German physician Theodor Bilharz in 1852, then known as Bilharzia haematobium or Distomum haematobium. Sonsino gave the name Bilharzia bovis following the genus classification introduced by another German physician Heinrich Meckel von Hemsbach in 1856 for the species described by Bilharz. The eggs of S. bovis are not only larger than those of other schistosomes, but also have thicker spine with an elongated shape in the form a spindle. The eggs are therefore the best and simplest identification key from other species.
The public source identifies “Schistosoma bovis” as species of worm. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Schistosoma, bovis and species.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Schistosoma bovis”, the useful work is to connect “species of worm” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q28431216. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2009, 2013, 1876 and 1852.
Scientific names, classifications and consensus can change while older terminology persists in catalogues and historical literature. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Schistosoma bovis” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.