Prevalence of Fascioloides magna in Galba truncatula in the Danube backwater area east of Vienna, Austria.

Publikationen als Autor:in / Herausgeber:in der Vetmeduni

Joachim, Anja

Abstrakt

Fascioloides magna is a digenean parasite of various wild ruminants. It was originally introduced to Europe from North America in the 19th century and first recorded in the wild in Austria in 2000 at Fischamend, southeast of Vienna. Later, several cases were detected in the Danube backwater region between Vienna and Bratislava. The lymnaeid snail Galba truncatula is known to act as natural intermediate host of F. magna in Europe. In this study prevalence and distribution of the parasite in the snail host were investigated between August 2004 and September 2005. Snails were dissected, digeneans roughly determined by light microscopy. Species determination of rediae and cercariae with fasciolid appearance was carried out by PCR and DNA sequencing. A total of 109 locations in this region were investigated. Galba truncatula was recorded at 38 locations, usually with high frequency at swampy embankments of slow running water, near the water line. A total of 10,059 individuals of Galba truncatula were examined, of which 244 were infected (prevalence of 2.43 %) with different digeneans. The findings included stages of F. magna, Fasciola hepatica, Paramphistomum sp., Haplometra cylindracea, Tylodelphis sp., Notocotylus sp. and of Echinostomatidae as well. Some stages remained unidentified. F. magna was recorded only 3 times (prevalence of 0.03 %). All findings originated from one locality at the northern bank of the river Fischa. Another finding records F. hepatica, from a locality nearby. Further monitoring of final hosts and mapping of intermediate snail hosts are recommended to estimate the epidemiology of the parasite and dispersal risk onto other regions and hosts.

Dokumententyp

Originalarbeit

WoS ID

WOS:000301095100006