Fasciolidae

General features
1. Members of family Fasciolidae are large, leaf-shaped parasites of mammals, mainly of
herbivores.
2. They have a tegument covered with scale-like spines, with acetabulum close to the oral
sucker.
3. Oral and ventral suckers are closely situated at the anterior end
4. Testes and ovary are dendritic, and vitellaria are extensive, branched and fills most of the
postacetabular space.
5. Ova are large and operculated.
6. There is no second intermediate host in the life cycle; metacercariae encyst on submerged
objects or freely in the water.
7. Examples include Fasciola hepatica, Fasciola gigantica and Fasciolopsis buski.
Family Fasciolidae
Digenetic trematodes, or flukes, are among the most common and abundant of parasitic worms,
second only to nematodes in their distribution. They are parasites of all classes of vertebrates,
especially marine fishes, and nearly every organ of the vertebrate body can be parasitized by some
kind of trematode, as adult or juvenile. Digenean development occurs in at least two hosts. The
first is a mollusc or, very rarely, an annelid. Many species include a second and even a third
intermediate host in their life cycles. Several species cause economic losses to society through
infections of domestic animals, and others are medically important parasites of humans.
Typical Life cycle of Digeneans
A ciliated, free-swimming larva, a miracidium, hatches from its shell and penetrates a first
intermediate host, usually a snail. At the time of penetration or soon after, the larva discards its
ciliated epithelium and metamorphoses into a rather simple, saclike form, a sporocyst. Within the
sporocyst a number of embryos develop asexually to become rediae. Rediae are somewhat more
differentiated than sporocysts, possessing, for example, a pharynx and a gut, neither of which are
present in a miracidium or sporocyst. Additional embryos develop within the redia, and these
become cercariae. Cercariae emerge from the snail. They usually have a tail to aid in swimming.
Although many species require further development as metacercariae before they are infective to
a definitive host, cercariae are properly considered juveniles; they have organs that will develop
into an adult digestive tract and suckers, and genital primordia are often present. A fully developed,
encysted metacercaria is infective to a definitive host and develops there into an adult trematode.
Many trematodes have a second intermediate host which bears their encysted metacercariae. The
vertebrate definitive hosts are then infected when they consume the second intermediate host.
Fasciola hepatica
This is primarily an important parasite of sheep and cattle (herbivores) for hundreds of years in
temperate regions. However, occasional human infections do occur. In fact, fascioliasis is one of

1
the major causes of hyper eosinophilia in France. The flukes feed on the lining of biliary ducts.
Their eggs are passed out of the liver with bile and into the intestine to be voided with feces.
Morphology
Fasciola hepatica is one of the largest flukes of the world, reaching a length of 30 mm and a width
of 13 mm. It is rather leaf shaped, pointed posteriorly and wide anteriorly, although the shape
varies. The oral sucker is small but powerful and is located at the end of a cone-shaped projection
at the anterior end. A marked widening of the body at the base of the so called oral cone gives the
worm the appearance of having shoulders (The combination of an oral cone and “shoulders” is an
immediate means of identification). The acetabulum is somewhat larger than the oral sucker and
is quite anterior, at about shoulder level. The tegument is covered with large, scale-like spines,
reminding one of echinostomes, to which they are closely related. The intestinal ceca are highly
dendritic (branched) and extend to near the posterior end of the body. The testes are large and
greatly branched, arranged in tandem behind the ovary. The smaller, dendritic ovary lies on the
right side, shortly behind the acetabulum, and the uterus is short, coiling between the ovary and
the pre-acetabular cirrus pouch. Vitelline follicles are extensive, filling most of the lateral body
and becoming confluent behind the testes. The operculate eggs are 130 μm to 150 μm by 63 μm to
90 μm.

2
Life Cycle
Eggs are passed out of the liver with bile and into the intestine to be voided with feces. If they fall
into water, eggs will complete their development into miracidia and hatch in 9 to 10 days during
warm weather. Colder water retards their development. On hatching, miracidia have about 24
hours in which to find a suitable snail host, a lymnaeid species e.g. Fossaria modicella or
Stagnicola bulimoides.
In other parts of the world, different but related snails are important first intermediate hosts. Mother
sporocysts produce first-generation rediae, which in turn produce daughter rediae that develop in
a snail’s digestive gland. Cercariae begin emerging five to seven weeks after infections. If the
water in which the snails live dries up, the snails burrow into the mud and survive, still infected,
for months. When water is again present, the snails emerge and rapidly shed many cercariae.
Cercariae have a simple, club-shaped tail about twice their body length. Once in the water,
cercariae quickly attach to any available object, drop their tails, and produce a thick, transparent
cyst around themselves. If they do not encounter an object within a short time, they drop their tails
and encyst free in the water. When a mammal eats metacercariae encysted on vegetation or in
water, juvenile fluke’s excyst in the small intestine. They immediately penetrate the intestinal wall,
enter the coelom, and creep over the viscera until contacting the liver capsule. Then they burrow
into liver parenchyma and wander about for almost two months, feeding and growing and finally
entering bile ducts. The worms become sexually mature in another month and begin producing
eggs. Adult flukes can live as long as 11 years.

3
Epidemiology. Infection begins when metacercaria infected aquatic vegetation is eaten or when
water containing metacercariae is drunk. Humans are often infected by eating watercress. Human
infections occur in parts of Europe, northern Africa, Cuba, South America, and other localities.
Data from coprolites (fossil feces) show Europeans have been infected with F. hepatica for at least
5000 years. Prevalence can be high: Up to 38% of children, ages 5 to 19, may be infected in the
Altiplano region of Bolivia. Sheep, cattle, and rabbits are the most frequent reservoirs of infection.
Temperature and rainfall affect both the spatial and temporal abundance of snail hosts and the rate
of development of fluke eggs and larvae, the three most important factors that influence the
occurrence of Fasciolasis are availability of suitable snail habitat, temperature and moisture.
Whether or not humans are infected, veterinary fascioliasis is a major economic problem. Fasciola
hepatica is one of the most important disease agents of domestic stock throughout the world.
Losses are enormous because of mortality, reduction of milk and meat production, secondary
bacterial infection, expensive anthelmintic treatment, and especially condemnation of livers.
Metacercaria can survive up to 3 months after harvesting in hay from endemic highland areas that
are consumed by the ruminants in arid and lowland areas, particularly during the dry season when
suitable grazing pastures are scarce; local crowding of animals along the banks of streams and
ponds during the dry season. When nutritional conditions are generally compromised also provides
an important dynamic for infection transmission.

4
 Fasciola gigantica
This a species that is longer and more slender than but otherwise very similar to F. hepatica. F.
gigantica is found in Africa, Asia, and Hawaii, being relatively common in herbivorous mammals,
especially cattle, in these areas. The morphology, biology, and pathology are nearly identical to
those of F. hepatica, although different snail hosts are necessary. Strains of sheep differ in their
susceptibility to F. gigantica. For example, Indonesian thin tail sheep are relatively resistant
because of a single gene that shows incomplete dominance. Such sheep are not resistant to F.
hepatica, however, Cattle strains also differ in both susceptibility and in production loss due to
infection.
Table 1: morphological differences between F. gigantica and F. hepatica
Features F. gigantica F. hepatica
Shape Longer but narrower Shorter but wider
Size 75mm by 15mm 30mm by 13mm
Shoulder Smaller and narrow shoulder Wider shoulder
Testes Position anterior Mid posterior
Oral sucker position Less anteriorly placed More anteriorly placed
Size of ventral sucker Larger ventral sucker Small ventral sucker
Cephalic cone Shorter Wider
Intestinal Caeca Dendritic but subtend and ends before Highly dendritic, extend near the
the posterior end posterior end of the body
Ovary branching Lie mid-section just above the testes Small, dendritic, lie on the right side
Testes branching Highly branched and posterior half of Large, branched, in tandem behind the
the body ovary
Egg size 200 by 100 µm 130 - 150µm by 63 – 90µm
Intermediate host Radix natalensis, Radix auricularia Fossaria modicella, Stagnicola
Lymnaea truncatula bulimoides

5
Pathogenesis

Pathogenesis of Fasciolasis varies according to the parasitic development phases; parenchymal

and biliary phases. The parenchymal phase occurs during migration of flukes through the liver
Parenchyma and is associated with liver damage and hemorrhage. The biliary phase coincides with
parasite residence in the bile ducts and results from the haematophagic activity of the adult flukes
and from the damage to the bile duct mucosa by their circular spines. In the bile ducts of some
permissive hosts, such as the sheep, rabbit, rat and mouse, the biliary stage of the disease is
common. In others, such as cattle and humans, few flukes survive beyond the migratory phase and
biliary disease is relatively rare. Hepatic pathology, even when only limited areas of the liver are
damaged, results in significant disturbances in mitochondrial bioenergetics metabolism of
carbohydrates, proteins, lipids and steroids, as well as bile flow and bile composition
Fasciolopsis buski
Fasciolopsis buski is a typical fasciolid and a common parasite of humans and pigs. It is peculiar
because it lives in the small intestine of its definitive host rather than in the liver.
Morphology
It is elongated and oval, reaching a length of 20 mm to 75 mm and a width of up to 20 mm. There
is no cephalic cone or “shoulders.” The acetabulum is larger than the oral sucker and is located
close to it. Another difference from “typical” fasciolids is the presence of unbranched ceca. The
dendritic testes are tandem in the posterior half of the worm. The ovary is also branched and lies
in the midline anterior to the testes. Vitelline follicles are extensive, filling most of the lateral
parenchyma all the way to the caudal end. The uterus is short, with an ascending limb only. Eggs
are almost identical to those of Fasciola hepatica.
Life Cycle
The life cycle of F. buski parallels that of F. hepatica. Each worm daily produces about 25,000
eggs which take up to seven weeks to mature and hatch at 27° C to 32° C. Several species of snails
of genera Segmentina and Hippeutis (Planorbidae) serve as intermediate hosts. Cercariae encyst
on underwater vegetation, including cultivated water chestnut, water caltrop, lotus, bamboo, and
other edible plants. Metacercariae are swallowed when these plants are either eaten raw or peeled
and cracked with the teeth before eating. The worms’ excyst in the small intestine, grow, and
mature in about three months without further migration. Infection, then, depends on human or pig
feces being introduced directly or indirectly into bodies of water in which edible plants grow.42
Pathology
Disease conditions resulting from F. buski are immunopathologic, obstructive, and traumatic.
Inflammation at the site of attachment provokes excess mucous secretion, which is a typical
symptom of infection. Heavy infections block the passage of food and interfere with normal
digestive juice secretions. Ulceration, hemorrhage, and abscess of the intestinal wall result from
long-standing infections. Chronic diarrhea is symptomatic. Another aspect of disease is a

6
sensitization caused by absorption of the worm’s allergenic metabolites. This may eventually cause
death of the patient.
Treatment and Control
Treatment is usually effective in early or lightly infected cases. Late cases do not fare so well.
Prevention is easy. Immersion of vegetables in boiling water for a few seconds will kill the
metacercariae. Snail control should be attempted whenever it is impractical to prevent the use of
night soil as a fertilizer. High prevalence is maintained, especially in school-age children, by a
variety of social and economic factors, particularly poverty, lack of sanitation, and traditional
dietary practices.

Adult F. buski