Fasciola hepatica

Lab
Miss Hiba Bourinee
 Medically significant trematodes
trematodes Common Intermediate Biological Reservoir
name
host vector host

Fasciolopsis Giant intestinal snail Water Pigs, dogs, rabbit,

fluke planets(eg. , humans
buski
water chestnut

Fasciola Sheep liver snail Water Sheep, cattle,

fluke planets(eg. , human
hepatica
water tercress

Schistosoma Blood fluke snail none Primates, rodents,

domestic pets,
human

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 Fasciola hepatica

Fasciola hepatica, also known as the common

liver fluke or sheep liver fluke.
Is a parasitic flatworm of the class Trematoda,
phylum Platyhelminthes that infects liver of
various mammals, including humans.
The disease caused by the fluke is called
fascioliasis (also known as fasciolosis).
F. hepatica is world-wide distributed and causes
great economic losses in sheep and cattle.
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 Life cycle

In order to complete its life cycle,

F. hepatica requires an aquatic snail as an
intermediate host such as Galba
truncatula, in which the parasite can
reproduce asexually.
From the snail, minute cercariae emerge
and swim through pools of water in
pasture, and encyst as metacercariae on
nearby vegetation.

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 Life cycle

From here, the metacercariae are

ingested by the ruminant, or in some
cases, by humans eating un-cooked foods
such as water-cress.
Contact with low pH in the stomach
causes the early immature juvenile to
begin the process of excysment .

In the duodenum, the parasite breaks free
of the metacercariae and burrows through
the intestinal lining into the peritoneal
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 Life cycle

The newly excysted juvenile does not feed

at this stage, but once it finds the liver
parenchyma after a period of days,
feeding will start.

This immature stage in the liver tissue is

the pathogenic stage, causing anaemia
and clinical signs sometimes observed in
infected animals.

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 Life cycle
The parasite browses on liver tissue for a
period of up to 5-6 weeks and eventually
finds its way to the bile duct where it
matures into an adult and begins to
produce eggs.
Up to 25,000 eggs per day per fluke can be
produced, and in a light infection, up to
500,000 eggs per day can be deposited
onto pasture by a single sheep.
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 Morphology
Adult worms are large leaf-like, 20 to
30 mm in length.
At the anterior end, distinct conical
projection is observed.
The ceca and testes are highly
branched.
The eggs measure about 140 by 80
m.
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 egg capsule with emerging miracidium of
Fasciola hepatica. 400x

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 Pathology and clinical symptoms.

The triad of fever, hepatomegaly, and

eosinophilia in endemic area suggests
fascioliasis.
Symptoms and signs are associated with
biliary obstruction and cholangitis.
Acute epigastric pain, pruritus, and
jaundice are common.
Worms in human infections may be
frequently found in ectopic foci.
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 Prevention treatment
Avoiding ingestion of raw watercress
grown in endemic areas.

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 Treatment of F.hepatica

The drug of choice in the treatment of

fasciolosis is triclabendazole, a member of the
benzimidazole family of anthelmintics.

However, resistance of F. hepatica to

triclabendazole has already been recorded in
Australia and Ireland.
Artemether has been shown to be effective in a
rat model of fascioliasis .

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 Fasciolopsis buski

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 Fasciolopsis buski
Fasciolopsiasis results from infection by the
trematode Fasciolopsis buski, the largest
intestinal fluke of humans (up to 7.5 cm in
length)

Geographic distribution
This disease occurs in Asia and the Indian
subcontinent, especially in areas where humans
raise pigs and consume raw aquatic plants.

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 Clinical features
Most infections are light and
asymptomatic. In heavier infections,
symptoms include diarrhea, abdominal
pain, fever, ascites, anasarca, and
intestinal obstruction.

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 F.buski morphology
Egg are yellow brownoval large 75-100m
x 130-150m, and surrounded by a thin
shell.
They are unempryonated when
passed.these eggs are identical to those of
F.hepatica,and when seen should be
reported as F.buski/F.hepatica eggs.
Large adult flukes 1.5 cm x 3 cm2-7 cm
long lack the cephalic cone seen in
F.hepatica.
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 F.buski

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 F.Buski life cycle

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 Life cycle
Though many of us are familiar with the term
liver fluke, F. buski does not live in the liver:
these large leaf-shaped worms inhabit the upper
regions of the small intestine.
When there are many worms, they are also
found in lower areas of the intestine and in the
stomach. Fasciolopsis buski is not found in other
parts of the body

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This photo is to compare the sizes of Fasciolopsis
buski (left) and Fasciola hepatica (right), 2x.

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 F.buski
Immature unembryonated eggs are
discharged into the intestine and stool .
Each egg becomes embryonated (3-7
weeks) in warm water.
When fully developed, egg hatchtes to
release miracidium.
Miracidium invades a suitable planorbid
snail intermediate host. In the snail the
parasites undergo asexual development
(generations of sporocysts, redia then
27 cercaria ).
 F.buski
Cercaria are released from the snail.

Cercaria then encyst as metacercaria on

aquatic plants particularly Trapa natans (the
water caltrop) or the water chestnut, which
thrives in ponds fertilised by "night soil"
(human faeces) .
The mammalian hosts become infected by
ingesting metacercariae on the aquatic
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plants.
 F.buski

Note: most common mammalian hosts

are pigs, humans and dogs.

Note: infection occurs if the person uses
his teeth to peel the outer covering of the
infected plants (the inside, the only edible
part, is free of worms).

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 F.buski life cycle
After ingestion, the metacercariae excyst in
the duodenum and attach to the mucosa of
the jejunal and duodenal wall (intestinal
wall).

There they develop into adult flukes (20 to
75 mm by 8 to 20 mm) in approximately 3
months, attached to the intestinal wall of
the mammalian hosts (humans and pigs).

the largest intestinal fluke of humans (up to

30 7.5 cm in length).
 F.buski life cycle buski

The adults have a life span of about 6

months (some sources say up to one
year).

They go through sexual reproduction

to make the opperculated eggs that
are then dischared into the intestine
and exit in stool.
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 F.buski

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 F.buski

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 F.buski diagnosis

Microscopic identification of eggs, or

more rarely of the adult flukes, in the
stool or vomitus is the basis of specific
diagnosis. The eggs are
indistinguishable from those of Fasciola
hepatica.

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 F.buski diagnosis
Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay
(ELISA) are also used for diagnosis of
ectopic fascioliasis.
Radiologic techniques can provide indirect
evidences of fascioliasis.

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 Treatment of F.buski
The drug of choice is praziquantal, and the
alternative is niclosamide.

Prevention
Proper sanitation,
control of human feces
Ellimination of snail population.

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