An international team of scientists, one of whom is based at the Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC) in the Netherlands, has unravelled the genetic code of the tropical worm Schistosoma Mansoni, which affects 210 million people annually.

The worm is a major agent of bilharzia - also known as bilharziosis, schistosomiasis and snail disease - a  disease that claims hundreds of thousands of lives each year in Africa, the Middle East and South America. The LUMC said on Thursday that unravelling the genetic code is an important step in the development of an effective medicine for the disease.

The worm bores into the skin of its victim and travels to the urinary and intestinal organs, including the liver, where it can remain for years. The worm causes bilharzia, which results in tiredness, anaemia and liver disease. Every year several hundred thousand people die from this sickness. It is the second biggest parasitic disorder in the world after malaria, according to the LUMC.
 

Photo of Schistosoma mansoni from Wikimedia Commons