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The trematodes (or flukes) are leaf shaped with an outer cover called the
tegument which may be smooth or spiny. There are two suckers or attachment
organs, an anterior oral sucker and a posterior ventral sucker. The suckers
form a characteristic feature of the group, from which the name Trematode is
derived from the Greek word for hole. They can occur in a variety of host
environments, with the majority being endoparasites but some are found to be
ectoparasitic.
Most trematodes are hermaphroditic and most of the body consists of
reproductive organs and their associated structures. The digestive system is
well developed; they generally feed on intestinal debris, blood, mucus and
other tissues, depending on the host environment.
Dicrocoelium is
a
genus
of flukes with cattle,
sheep,
goats, pigs, and
other wild
animalsas
major
final
hosts.
It
occasionally infests horses, dogs, cats, and also humans. They are
also called lancet flukes or small liver flukes .
the bile
ducts and
Harm
caused by Dicrocoelium infections , symptoms and diagnos
is
effective
against
There are very few commercial flukicides approved for use on pig, horses, dogs and cats,
simply because flukesare seldom a problem for them.
Chemical control of the snails with molluscicides (i.e. snail killers) such as copper
sulphate, sodium pentachlorophenate, niclosamide, etc. can make sense for very specific
purposes, e.g. for treating places where livestock congregates (water holes, feeding areas,
salt licks, shade trees, etc) to keep them free of snails. However,trying to eradicate snails
from a property is hopeless and useless. It is virtually impossible to treat every place
where they can survive and they reproduce extremely quickly. Cleaned pastures would
become re-infested very fast. In addition it would be also very harmful for the environment. In
fact, such molluscicides (mainly niclosamide) are approved only in a few countries as an aid in
the prevention of human schistosomiasis (also called bilharziosis or snail fever).
For similar reasons, trying to eliminate the ants that act as intermediate hosts
of Dicrocoelium is not advisable either. Using insecticides for this purpose is not indicated,
both for economic and ecologic reasons. Whatever insecticide spread on the pastures would
kill numerous beneficial arthropods as well.
There are so far no vaccines against lancet flukes. To learn more about vaccines against
parasites of livestock and pets click here.
Biological control of lancet flukes (i.e. using their natural enemies) is so far not feasible.
You may be interested in an article in this site on medicinal plants against external and
internal parasites.
affected,
but
Fasciola
hepatica has
an indirect
life
cycle with amphibious snails asintermediate hosts, typically from
the genus Lymnaea .
Adult flukes produce eggs in the biliary ducts of their hosts. These
eggs reach the gall bladder and are passed to the host's gut when the
gall bladder is emptied. They are passively transported to the anus
and are expelled with the feces. A single liver fluke can produce up to
25'000 eggs a day!
Once outside the host, the larvae called miracidia hatch out of the
eggs in 7 to 15 days. These larvae can survive for weeks off a host
provided there is enough humidity. They die quickly in a dry
environment. Miracidia can swim and penetrate actively into the snails
where they remain for 4 to 8 weeks and develop successively
to sporocysts, rediae and cercariae, the usual larval stages of most
fluke species. A single miracidium can asexually produce up to 600
cercariae.
Mature cercariae leave the snail, attach to the vegetation, lose their
tail and produce cysts of about 0.2 mm, the so-called metacercariae,
which are infective for the final host. Such cysts can survive for
months in the vegetation, even under dry conditions, even in hay!
Livestock becomes infected by grazing contaminated pastures or hay,
i.e. animals kept indoors can also become infected if they are fed
contaminated hay.
the
pastures
dry have to be
Make unavoidable ditches or channels less attractive to the snails: make the borders
steeper and/or cover them with concrete, eliminate the surrounding vegetation, drying
them completely out periodically, etc.
Avoid even very small water points that support the snails, e.g. hardened footprints (of
shoes or car tires).
fluke.
To
learn
more
Biological control of liver flukes (i.e. using their natural enemies) is so far not feasible.
The
most
relevant
species
for livestock and horses are: Schistosoma
bovis ,Schistosoma
matthei , Schistosoma indicum , Schistosoma curassoni. Cats are
affected by Schistosoma japonicum and Schistosoma reflexum.
The
disease
caused
by Schistosoma spp
is
called schistosomiasis, bilharziosis orsnail
fever.
It
is
also
a serious human disease in endemic regions of Asia, Africa and
South America. It is estimated that close to 200 million people are
infected worldwide, mainly in Africa.
ventral suckers are rather small. Each male has a special structure
along tits body, the gynacophoriccanal, where the adult female
resides permanently. In fact it seems that females cannot mature in
absence of the males. As in other flukes the digestive system
of Schistosoma is blind, i.e. it has no anus but ends in a blindbranch,
the cecum.
Harm caused
by Schistosoma species, symptoms and diagnosis
Blood flukes are not excessively harmful for livestock. Most damage is
due to the immature stages that penetrate the skin, or to the bursting
of the egg filled abscesses in the gut. Immature flukes in the blood
vessels feeding in red blood cells can cause anemia and compete for
nutrients with the host's own tissues. They can also cause blood
poisoning. Schistosoma bovis can also damage the gall bladder.
Most Schistosoma infections of livestock produce no clinical signs,
even heavy infections. Intermittent diarrhea is sometimes observed,
occasionally with blood and mucus. Constipation, anemia, weight loss
and progressive weakness can happen as well.
In horses most infections remain asymptomatic.
occasionaly occur in case of heavy burdens.
Problems
may
Diagnosis is confirmed through fecal examination for the presence of eggs, for some species
also in urine.
Where blood flukes are endemic, preventive measures are highlyrecommended to reduce the
snail populations, the infection of pastures with infective stages, or the access to livestock to
highly infested pastures.
Vector snails are aquatic and live in water (e.g. streams, lakes, pools, swamps, marshes,
irrigation channels, ditches, ponds, watering holes, etc.) and are highly prolific. Whatever
measures help keeping the pastures dry have to be encouraged to reduce the snail
population e.g.:
Make unavoidable ditches or channels less attractive to the snails: making the borders
steeper and/or cover them with concrete, eliminate the surrounding vegetation, drying
them completely out periodically, etc.
flukes.
To learn
Biological control of blood flukes (i.e. using their natural enemies) is so far not feasible.
You may be interested in an article in this site on medicinal plants against external and
internal parasites.
Cysticercus
ovis occurs worldwide,
mainly in rural areas of countries with large sheep populations.
Regional incidence varies a lot. Unexpected outbreaks can happen due
to climatic conditions that favor the survival of eggs in pastures or the
activity of wild canids that carry the disease.
The
disease
caused
by
this
and
other
cysticercoids
is
calledcysticercosis. In this particular case it is also called sheep
measles.
this
site
on
the general
biology of parasitic
additional information of
The regular use of anthelmintics is usually not indicated for preventing sheep or
goat infections with Cysticercus ovis. There are reports that praziquantel is effective, but
results can be unreliable.
Several
classic
anthelmintics
such
as macrocyclic
lactones (e.g. ivermectin, doramectin, selamectin,etc.), levamisole, tetrahydropyrimidines (e.g
. pyrantel, morantel) and piperazine derivatives are not effective at all against Cysticercus
ovis or whatever adult tapeworm or cysticercoid, neither on dogs, nor on sheep, goats or
otherlivestock.
There are so far no vaccines that would protect sheep or goats against Cysticercus ovis. A
lot of research is being done in the development of a vaccine against sheep measles, but so
far
there
are
no
commercial
vaccines
in
most
countries. To
learn
more
about vaccines against parasites of livestock and pets
Biological control of Taenia tapeworms respectively Cysticercus ovis (i.e. using its natural
enemies) is so far not feasible.
You may be interested in an article in this site on medicinal plants against external and
internal parasites.
But it infects many other domestic and wild mammals (mainly ungulates,
but
also
rodents)
that
act
as intermediate
hosts,
including cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, horses,dromedaries, South American camelids, deer,
kangaroos, etc. where it causes a disease called cystic echinococcosis or hydatid
disease. Humans can also act as intermediate hosts. There are a few reports that cats can
acts as intermediate hosts as well.
Echinococcus granulosus is found worldwide, but the prevalence varies a lot. It is generally
more abundant in rural regions with abundant livestock and wildlife together with poor
sanitary conditions.
Echinococcus multilocularis is a related species that affects dogs, cats, and humans but not
livestock.
YES. The worm eggs shed with the feces of dogs can contaminate food and drinking
water and are infective for humans as well as other animals. Contact with contaminated
dogs can also be contagious, because their hair coat can carry such eggs as well. See the
life cycle below. Intermediate hosts (horses, livestock, etc.) contaminated
with Echinococcus granulosus, i.e. suffering of cystic echinococcosis (= hydatid disease)
are not contagious for humans.
information in
this
site
on
the general
biology of parasitic