Explore the vast range of titles available.

Human fascioliasis infection sources are analysed for the first time in front of the new worldwide scenario of this disease. These infection sources include foods, water and combinations of both. Ingestion of freshwater wild plants is the main source, with watercress and secondarily other vegetables involved. The problem of vegetables sold in uncontrolled urban markets is discussed. Distinction between infection sources by freshwater cultivated plants, terrestrial wild plants, and terrestrial cultivated plants is made. The risks by traditional local dishes made from sylvatic plants and raw liver ingestion are considered. Drinking of contaminated water, beverages and juices, ingestion of dishes and soups and washing of vegetables, fruits, tubercles and kitchen utensils with contaminated water are increasingly involved. Three methods to assess infection sources are noted: detection of metacercariae attached to plants or floating in freshwater, anamnesis in individual patients, and questionnaire surveys in endemic areas. The infectivity of metacercariae is reviewed both under field conditions and experimentally under the effects of physicochemical agents. Individual and general preventive measures appear to be more complicated than those considered in the past. The high diversity of infection sources and their heterogeneity in different countries underlie the large epidemiological heterogeneity of human fascioliasis throughout.

Fasciola hepatica is a pathogenic trematode parasite of ruminants with a global distribution. Here, we briefly review the current epidemiology of bovine fasciolosis in Europe and discuss the progress made over the last decade in the diagnosis, impact on production and prediction of F. hepatica in cattle. Advances in diagnosis have led to significantly improved coprological and serological methods to detect presence of infection. Diagnostic test results have been correlated with intensity of infection and associated production losses, unravelling the impact on carcass weight and milk yield in modern cattle production systems. The economic impact of fasciolosis may, however, go beyond the direct impacts on production as evidence shows that F. hepatica can modulate the immune response to some co-infections. Control of bovine fasciolosis remains hampered by the limitations of the currently available flukicidal drugs: few drugs are available to treat dairy cows, many have low efficacies against juvenile stages of F. hepatica and there is evidence for the development of drug resistance. This makes research into the prediction of risk periods, and thus the optimum application of available drugs more pertinent. In this field, the recent research focus has been on understanding spatial risk and delivering region-specific spatial distribution maps. Further advances in epidemiological and economic research on bovine fasciolosis are expected to deliver farm-specific economic assessments of disease impact, to leverage non-chemotherapeutic management options and to enhance a more targeted use of anthelmintics.

Sensitive diagnostics are needed to improve management and surveillance of opisthorchiasis and opisthorchiasis-associated cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) throughout East Asia. Herein we generate and screen an Opisthorchis viverrini recombinant secreted proteome to identity antibody biomarkers of liver fluke infection and CCA with sera from study participants in endemic populations and evaluate their utility as point-of-care immunochromatographic tests (PoC-ICTs). We incorporate two of the most promising antigens from the proteome array screen, P1 and P9, into PoC-ICTs to further validate their diagnostic performance. The P9-IgG4 PoC-ICT is superior amongst the single recombinant antigen tests for diagnosing fluke infection as well as fluke-induced CCA, and out-performs parasite crude extract-IgG ICTs. Here we identify two biomarkers of O. viverrini infection and infection-associated CCA that could form the basis of novel antibody serodiagnostic tests for human liver fluke infection and associated cancer. Sensitive diagnostics are needed to detect carcinogenic human liver fluke infections. Sadaow et al. here use an immunomics approach to develop field-deployable tests for diagnosing liver fluke infection and its associated liver cancer.

The Northern Bolivian Altiplano is the fascioliasis endemic area where the highest prevalences and intensities in humans have been recorded. In this hyperendemic area of human fascioliasis, the disease is caused only by Fasciola hepatica and transmitted by Galba truncatula , the sole lymnaeid species present in the area. When analysing the link between global warning and the recently reported geographical spread of lymnaeid populations to out-border localities, a marked heterogeneous climatic change was found throughout the endemic area. The aim of the present study was to analyse the physiographical heterogeneity of the fascioliasis hyperendemic area in the Northern Bolivian Altiplano, in order to assess its repercussions in the implementation of a One Health action. We applied multivariate linear mixed models to analyse the influence of a number of physiographical features on the long-term variation of climate and of the risk of transmission. Despite its apparent physiographic homogeneity, the findings of this study revealed markedly heterogeneous climate characteristics throughout the endemic area. This irregular pattern is influenced by physiographical features such as altitude, inner hills, closeness to Lake Titicaca, and El Niño–Southern Oscillation. This is the broadest study ever performed in a human fascioliasis endemic area about the influence of physiography on climate. It highlights the importance of considering physiographical features, an aspect usually not considered in studies dealing with the influences of climate and climate change on human and animal fascioliasis. Moreover, it shows that an endemic area may climatically evolve differently in its various inner zones and emphasizes the need for continuous monitoring to assess whether control measures should be modified accordingly.

Fasciolosis is a zoonotic food- and waterborne infection related to great economic losses on ruminant production. In order to determine the prevalence of bovine liver condemnations due to fasciolosis in an abattoir at the Central Andes of Peru, we evaluated the records of an authorized slaughterhouse in Huancayo, at 3300 m above sea level, over 16 months. Subsequently, the average weights of condemned viscera and carcasses were also estimated to determine the direct and indirect economic losses. Fasciolosis was the main cause of liver condemnation, with a prevalence of 55.72% (3926/7046; CI 95%: 56.88–54.56%). The livers infected were more than double the amount of livers supplied to markets in this period. Although the average price of liver in the Peruvian Andes is very cheap, approximately 16.45 tons of livers were destroyed, estimating a direct economic loss of US$ 35,080 (CI 95%: US$ 29,178–40,938). The indirect loss due to decreased body weight gain (calculated using 10% of the average weight of a healthy animal carcass) was estimated at US$ 354,570 (CI 95%: US$ 387,908–US$ 321,227). Fasciolosis is an important zoonotic disease that threatens food security in the Andean region, with major repercussions on the income of the livestock industry and the availability of cheap protein sources.

Large areas of the province of Punjab, Pakistan are endemic for fascioliasis, resulting in high economic losses due to livestock infection but also affecting humans directly. The prevalence in livestock varies pronouncedly in space and time (1-70%). Climatic factors influencing fascioliasis presence and potential spread were analysed based on data from five meteorological stations during 1990-2010. Variables such as wet days (Mt), water-budget-based system (Wb-bs) indices and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), were obtained and correlated with geographical distribution, seasonality patterns and the two-decade evolution of fascioliasis in livestock throughout the province. The combined approach by these three indices proved to furnish a useful tool to analyse the complex epidemiology that includes (i) sheep-goats and cattlebuffaloes presenting different immunological responses to fasciolids; (ii) overlap of Fasciola hepatica and F. gigantica; (iii) co-existence of highlands and lowlands in the area studied; and (iv) disease transmission following bi-seasonality with one peak related to natural rainfall and another peak related to man-made irrigation. Results suggest a human infection situation of concern and illustrate how climate and anthropogenic environment modifications influence both geographical distribution and seasonality of fascioliasis risks. Increased fascioliasis risk throughout the Punjab plain and its decrease in the northern highlands of the province became evident during the study period. The high risk in the lowlands is worrying given that Punjab province largely consists of low-altitude, highly irrigated plains. The importance of livestock in this province makes it essential to prioritise adequate control measures. An annual treatment scheme to control the disease is recommended to be applied throughout the whole province.

Fasciolosis, caused by the liver fluke Fasciola spp., is a significant parasitic disease of livestock and humans worldwide. Fasciola transmission and life cycle are highly dependent on climatic conditions, especially temperature and humidity. This dependency has gained significance in the context of ongoing climate change. This literature review examined evidence on the effects of temperature variability on the developmental stages of Fasciola spp. and the snail intermediate hosts. We reviewed free larval stages of Fasciola spp. development, as well as snail intermediate hosts, while investigating the climate-related factors influencing each stage. We found that Fasciola spp. egg hatching and development were inhibited below 10 °C and optimal between 20 and 30 °C, miracidia hatching time decreased with higher temperatures and cercarial shedding by snail hosts accelerated around 27 °C. Further, metacercarial viability declined at higher temperatures but was prolonged by higher humidity. Snail intermediate host growth rates peaked at 25 °C, and their susceptibility to Fasciola infection depends on temperature, underscoring its importance in transmission dynamics. Overall, the Fasciola life cycle and snail host development exhibit stage-specific temperature thresholds, indicating a complex relationship between temperature fluctuations and parasite transmission potential. This research highlights the key role of temperature and humidity on Fasciola spp. and snail development, shedding light on the potential consequences of climate change on their survival, development, and disease transmission. Data limitations, primarily from the scarcity of high-resolution climate-related experiments, should drive future research to enhance predictive models and deepen our understanding of the impact of climate change on this parasitic disease.

We report 2 cases of human fascioliasis (HF) in Belgium, likely caused by consumption of vegetables from a garden that was flooded by pasture runoff. Because autochthonous HF is rare and the route of transmission was unusual, HF was not diagnosed until 6 months after symptom onset in both cases.

Before the 1990s, human fascioliasis diagnosis focused on individual patients in hospitals or health centres. Case reports were mainly from developed countries and usually concerned isolated human infection in animal endemic areas. From the mid-1990s onwards, due to the progressive description of human endemic areas and human infection reports in developing countries, but also new knowledge on clinical manifestations and pathology, new situations, hitherto neglected, entered in the global scenario. Human fascioliasis has proved to be pronouncedly more heterogeneous than previously thought, including different transmission patterns and epidemiological situations. Stool and blood techniques, the main tools for diagnosis in humans, have been improved for both patient and survey diagnosis. Present availabilities for human diagnosis are reviewed focusing on advantages and weaknesses, sample management, egg differentiation, qualitative and quantitative diagnosis, antibody and antigen detection, post-treatment monitoring and post-control surveillance. Main conclusions refer to the pronounced difficulties of diagnosing fascioliasis in humans given the different infection phases and parasite migration capacities, clinical heterogeneity, immunological complexity, different epidemiological situations and transmission patterns, the lack of a diagnostic technique covering all needs and situations, and the advisability for a combined use of different techniques, at least including a stool technique and a blood technique.

Fasciolosis, a neglected tropical disease caused by Fasciola spp., is a global parasitic infection whose prevalence is on the rise, particularly in warmer regions with favorable temperature and humidity conditions. This study examines the temporal presence of Fasciola spp. in various climatic zones across Iran, focusing on Gilan province as an endemic area. We calculated the Malone index for 5-year intervals spanning significant epidemics in 1988 and 1999 in Gilan, as well as 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020. The results revealed a significant increase in Malone indices during August, September, and October in 1988, indicating a higher risk for Fasciola presence than in other months. These months were categorized as moderate risk. In 1999, September exhibited moderate risk, while October was classified as low risk. The risk levels remained relatively low in 2005, with the highest value in September and October. Similarly, October and September showed the highest risks in 2010, while October was identified as highly risky in 2015. In 2020, August displayed a higher risk, while September, October, and November indicated low risk. The analysis highlights the variability of risk levels across different years, with September and October consistently appearing as months with a higher probability of Fasciola presence. Conversely, the risk diminishes from January to July, which is considered a low-risk period in the region. Interestingly, a comparison with three different geographical regions in central, southern, and western Iran revealed that the Malone index was zero in all months of the year, except for two cases, suggesting unfavorable conditions for Fasciola presence in these areas. This research sheds light on the complex interplay between climatic variables and the presence of Fasciola spp., with the potential to inform the development of targeted strategies for preventing and controlling this parasite in Gilan province, a known hotspot for fasciolosis, as well as in other regions with similar climatic conditions.