INTRODUCTION

Fasciolopsis Measuring largest

buski lives in the small intestine of humans and pigs. up to 80 mm in length trematodes found in humans

Geographic

Distribution: Asia and the Indian subcontinent, especially in areas where humans raise pigs and consume freshwater plants.

As

with many other parasites that infect humans, pigs serve as a reservoir host
cause Fascioslopsiasis

Can

MORPHOLOGY : ADULT
The

adult flukes range in size: 20 to 75 mm by 8 to 20 mm. No cephalic cone, acetabulum larger than oral sucker. Testis posterior & branched. Attach themselves to the tissues of the small intestine of the host by means of ventral suckers; the sites of attachment may later ulcerate and form abscesses.

The adult flukes range in size: 20 to 75 mm by 8 to 20 mm.

Fasciolopsis Buski adult; approximate length = 50 mm

Typical gymnocephalus cercaria of a fascioliid. This is a ventral view showing the spherical acetabulum framed by the two branches of the caeca. This Fasciolopsis buski cercaria is indistinguishable from the cercaria of Fasciola hepatica. 100x

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

MORPHOLOGY : EGG
Egg

is practically indistinguishable from those of Fasciola hepatica. The eggs are ellipsoidal, with a thin shell, and a usually small, indistinct operculum, range in size: 130 to 159 m by 78 to 98 m.

LIFE CYCLE

CONT..

Immature eggs are discharged into the intestine and stool. Eggs become embryonated in water , eggs release miracidia , which invade a suitable snail intermediate host.

In the snail the parasites undergo several developmental stages (sporocysts, rediae, and cercariae ).
The cercariae are released from the snail and encyst as metacercariae on aquatic plants. The mammalian hosts become infected by ingesting metacercariae on the aquatic plants. After ingestion, the metacercariae excyst in the duodenum and attach to the 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 adults have a life span of about one year.

PATHOGENICITY & SYMPTOM

Most

infections are light and asymptomatic. In heavier infections, symptoms include diarrhea, abdominal pain, fever, ascites, and intestinal obstruction. Chronic infections with this parasite lead to inflammation, ulceration, hemorrhage, and abscesses of the small intestine, and these can ultimately lead to the host's death.

LABORATORY 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.

Treatment : Praziquantel

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