Chronic fascioliasis in farmed and wild greater rheas (Rhea americana).
From 50 farmed Rhea americana slaughtered for human consumption, adult forms and eggs of Fasciola hepatica were found in 4. The other three livers were free of flukes but did show lesions caused by larval fluke migration. Histological lesions were similar to those caused by flukes in cattle and sheep. The rheas were from an endemic area of ruminant fascioliasis in Southern Brazil. F. hepatica eggs were also found in faecal samples of wild rheas from another endemic area in Southern Brazil. It is likely that the rheas play a role in the transmission of the disease to ruminants and could be jeopardizing the control of this parasitosis in endemic areas. From the best of our knowledge this is the first report of fascioliasis in R. americana.
Soares
Mauro Pereira
MP
Laboratório Regional de Diagnostico, Faculdade de Veterinária, UFPel, 96010-900 Pelotas, RS, Brazil. mpsoares@ufpel.tche.br
da Silva
Sergio Silva
SS
Nizoli
Leandro Quintana
LQ
Felix
Samuel Rodrigues
SR
Schild
Ana Lucia
AL
D000822:Animal Husbandry; D000818:Animals; D001715:Bird Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005210:Fasciola hepatica / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005211:Fascioliasis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D005260:Female; D008099:Liver / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D020311:Rheiformes / Q000469:parasitology*