title: Molecular evidence shows that the liver fluke Fasciola gigantica is the predominant Fasciola species in ruminants from Pakistan.
abstract: Fascioliasis is an important disease affecting livestock, with great costs to producers worldwide. It has also become a serious issue for human populations in some endemic areas as an emerging zoonotic infection. There are two Fasciola species of liver fluke responsible for this disease, which occur worldwide, Fasciola hepatica and Fasciola gigantica. Identifying these two species on the basis of adult or egg morphology requires specialist knowledge due to the similarity of characters, and may misidentify putative intermediate or hybrid forms. In this study we sequenced the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS-2) rDNA of liver flukes collected from multiple species of hosts from seven localities in the Punjab and Baluchistan provinces of Pakistan, to determine the distribution of these two species. All 46 flukes processed in this study, collected from seven sites, showed the rDNA ITS-2 genotype corresponding to F. gigantica, contradicting previous reports, based on adult and egg morphology, that both species are present in Pakistan, with F. hepatica being the more common.
authors.affiliation: Department of Comparative Biology and Experimental Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine,University of Calgary, Alberta,Canada.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Chaudhry
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Faculty of Science,University of Lethbridge,Alberta,Canada.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: van Paridon
authors.affiliation: Quality Operations Laboratory, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences,Lahore,Pakistan.
authors.forename: M Z
authors.initials: MZ
authors.lastname: Shabbir
authors.affiliation: Centre for Advanced Studies in Vaccine and Biotechnology, University of Baluchistan,Quetta,Pakistan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shafee
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology,University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences,Lahore,Pakistan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ashraf
authors.affiliation: Quality Operations Laboratory, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences,Lahore,Pakistan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yaqub
authors.affiliation: Department of Comparative Biology and Experimental Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine,University of Calgary, Alberta,Canada.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gilleard
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer / Q000235:genetics; D005209:Fasciola / Q000235:genetics*; D005211:Fascioliasis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D010802:Phylogeny; D012418:Ruminants
chemical_list: D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer