Fasciolosis overview
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Overview
Fasciolosis is an important helminth disease caused by two trematodes Fasciola hepatica (the common liver fluke) and Fasciola gigantica. This disease belongs to the plant-borne trematode zoonoses. In Europe, the Americas and Oceania only F. hepatica is a concern, but the distributions of both species overlap in many areas of Africa and Asia.[1]
The definitive host range is very broad and includes many herbivorous mammals, including humans. The life cycle includes freshwater snails as an intermediate host of the parasite.[2] Recently, worldwide losses in animal productivity due to fasciolosis were conservatively estimated at over US$3.2 billion per annum.[3] In addition, fasciolosis is now recognized as an emerging human disease: the World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated that 2.4 million people are infected with Fasciola, and a further 180 million are at risk of infection.[4]
References
- ↑ Mas-Coma, S., Bargues, M.D., Valero, M.A., 2005. Fascioliasis and other plant-borne trematode zoonose. Int. J. Parasitol. 35, 1255–1278.
- ↑ Torgerson, P., Claxton, J., 1999. Epidemiology and control. In: Dalton, J.P. (Ed.), Fasciolosis. CAB International Publishing, Wallingford, pp. 113–149.
- ↑ Spithill, T.W., Smooker, P.M., Copeman, D.B. 1999. Fasciola gigantica: epidemiology, control, immunology and molecular biology. In: Dalton, J.P. (Ed.), Fasciolosis. CAB International Publishing, Wallingford, pp. 465–525.
- ↑ Anonymus 1995. Control of Foodborne Trematode Infections. WHO Technical Series No. 849. WHO, Geneva, 157 pp.