BEIJING, March 17 (Xinhuanet) -- U.S. researchers have identified a new drug that hold promise as potential therapies for schistosomiasis -- a parasitic worm disease that afflicts more than 200 million people worldwide.

    The drug killed worms in the lab, and cured mice infected with the disease, said David Williams of Illinois State University, who reported his findings on Sunday in the journal Nature Medicine.

    The results exceeded all benchmarks set by the World Health Organization for potential new drugs to treat schistosomiasis.

    Importantly, the researchers also showed that the drug was active against all three major species of Schistosoma worms that infect humans.

    Schistosomiasis, also known as bilharzia or snail fever, affects an estimated 207 million people, most of whom live in developing nations in tropical areas.

    About 20 million of those people are seriously disabled due to severe anemia, diarrhea, internal bleeding and/or organ damage. In addition, another 280,000 die of the disease each year.

    (Agencies)