Schistosomiasis - also known as bilharzia - is a worm disease that is widespread in warm inland waters by snails as intermediate hosts.The eggs are excreted in the feces or urine of people and get into the water (1). Under good conditions larvae hatch from the eggs (Miracidiae) (2), which swim freely in the water and infect specific freshwater snails as intermediate hosts (3). Inside the snails the lavae transform to sporocysts (4). These multiply and form a second generation of larvae, the cercariae (5). The cercariae are excreted by the water snail and thus pass into the open water, where they look for a host. The infective cercariae can penetrate the skin of humans(6). Once inside a human they form not yet sexually mature flukes (metacercariae) by dropping the rudder tail (7). These migrate through the tissue into the veins (8, 9). The adult fluke (Schistosomia) can be found at various points in the venous system of man (10). The female flukes give their fertilized eggs into the bloodstream. Thus, the eggs pass into the intestine (S. mansoni and S. japonicum) or into the bladder and the urethra (p haematiobium) and are then excreted via feces or urine (1).- The female schistosoma are 7-20 mm long, compared with the male slightly longer but much thinner.- The type Schistosomia japonicum is usually found inside the veins of the small intestine [A], S. mansoni haematobium are found inside the veins of the colon [B] and p inside the urinary bladder veins [C].S. mansoni and S. japonicum are most often found in the feces ,S. haematobium in the urine.- The flukes are not limited to their preferred location and can even move between different locations.Source: Ikiwaner via wikipedia