Mehmood Naunain, Zulfiqar Shafiah, Muqaddas Hira, Hasnain Muhammad, Zheng Yadong, Bisetegn Habtye, Ahmed Fahad, Khan Zafar Iqbal, Iqbal Furhan
Department of Zoology, University of Sargodha, Sargodha, 40100, Pakistan.
Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Sassari, Sassari, 07100, Italy.
Acta Parasitol. 2024 Dec;69(4):1866-1875. doi: 10.1007/s11686-024-00911-1. Epub 2024 Sep 3.
Fascioliasis is a zoonotic parasitic disease spread by genus Fasciola that causes considerable health and economic losses to both humans and livestock. Pakistan is an endemic region for fascioliasis and only a few molecular studies have been conducted to describe the etiology of disease in the country.
Current study involved the molecular characterization of adult fluke specimens (n = 31) through ITS-1 region of rDNA collected from four host species (sheep, goats, cattle and buffaloes) of district Sargodha. Moreover, coprology based epidemiology (n = 28620) and association of different risk factors with disease prevalence was also determined. Additionally, an overview of prevalence of fascioliasis in Pakistan, including molecular studies in the four provinces and livestock species, was also carried out.
The phylogenetic analysis revealed that Fasciola gigantica was the main etiological agent infecting the livestock species of this region. The coprological survey revealed an overall prevalence of 30.18% among the livestock species (sheep = 32.31%, goats = 30.67%, cattle = 31.01%, buffaloes = 25.23%). It was inferred that females were slightly more susceptible to infection (32.59%) and that the older age group had higher infection rate (34.01%) in all the host species.
The current study suggests that fascioliasis is a disease of primary concern indicating its status as one of the prevalent diseases affecting livestock in this region. It was also concluded that both Fasciola gigantica and Fasciola hepatica existed among the infected animals in addition to presence of hybrid/intermediate form in Pakistan with F. gigantica as dominant species in Punjab province.
片形吸虫病是一种由片形吸虫属传播的人畜共患寄生虫病，会给人类和牲畜带来相当大的健康和经济损失。巴基斯坦是片形吸虫病的流行地区，但仅有少数分子研究描述该国该病的病因。
本研究通过从萨戈达县的四种宿主动物（绵羊、山羊、牛和水牛）收集的核糖体DNA的ITS-1区域对31个成虫吸虫标本进行分子特征分析。此外，还开展了基于粪便学的流行病学研究（n = 28620），并确定了不同风险因素与疾病流行率的关联。另外，还对巴基斯坦片形吸虫病的流行情况进行了概述，包括四个省份和牲畜种类的分子研究。
系统发育分析表明，巨片形吸虫是感染该地区牲畜的主要病原体。粪便学调查显示，牲畜总体流行率为30.18%（绵羊 = 32.31%，山羊 = 30.67%，牛 = 31.01%，水牛 = 25.23%）。据推断，在所有宿主物种中，雌性对感染的易感性略高（32.59%），且年龄较大的群体感染率较高（34.01%）。
当前研究表明，片形吸虫病是一个主要关注的疾病，表明其作为该地区影响牲畜的流行疾病之一的地位。研究还得出结论，除了在巴基斯坦存在杂交/中间形式且在旁遮普省以巨片形吸虫为优势种外，感染动物中同时存在巨片形吸虫和肝片形吸虫。
