Genomic_diversity_of_Schistosoma_mansoni

Schistosomiasis is a debilitating parasitic disease, infecting over 220 million people across 78 countries. However, despite this widespread prevalence almost all sequenced genomes for one of the two major human infective species (Schistosoma mansoni) were sampled from a relatively small geographical region around the northern shoreline of Lake Victoria. Genomic analyses of these populations have revealed very high levels of genetic diversity and complex population structure. However, we don't currently know how consistent this observation is across other S. mansoni populations and to what extent populations from different regions (and freshwater bodies) diverge. In this study, we aim to perform whole-genome sequencing of S. mansoni cercarial isolates from a wider geographical range. With these data we aim to gain a greater understanding of genomic variation in Schistosoma which will complement and expand our current dataset as well as provide a foundation for genomic surveillance.