title: Opisthorchis viverrini infection in the snail and fish intermediate hosts in Central Vietnam.
abstract: Opisthorchis viverrini, a carcinogenic fish borne fluke, requires freshwater snails and fish as intermediate hosts. Opisthorchiasis is endemic in parts of Southeast Asia, including Central and South Vietnam. In this region the transmission by intermediate hosts has received little attention. Therefore, freshwater snails and wild fish from Bau My Tho, an opisthorchiasis endemic area in Binh Dinh Province were collected for examination of O. viverrini cercariae and metacercariae, respectively. A total of 12,000 snails belonging to six families, of which 1616 Bithynia snails representing Bithynia siamensis goniomphalos and Bithynia funiculata; as well as 754 fish representing 12 species were examined. Shedding of O. viverrini cercariae was observed only in B. s. goniomphalos and B. funiculata, at infection rates of 0.86% and 0.14%, respectively. O. viverrini infection in Bithynia spp. was significantly associated with the habitat but not with the species and the shell size of Bithynia spp. O. viverrini metacercariae were found in 10 fish species representing both Cyprinidae and non-Cyprinidae families. The prevalence of O. viverrini infection in fish was significantly associated with species. Carassius auratus, a fish species commonly eaten raw, Rasbora aurotaenia and Puntius brevis had the highest prevalence of 74.0%, 55.8% and 31.6%, respectively. Sharing of the same snail and fish intermediate host species was found for O. viverrini and a O. viverrini duck-genotype that are sympatric in the study region. This study is the first to report on the intermediate host species of O. viverrini in Central Vietnam and indicates a high risk of acquiring opistorchiasis when eating raw fish dishes.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Veterinary Research, Hanoi, Viet Nam; Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium; Department of Virology, Parasitology and Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium.
authors.forename: Ha Thanh Thi
authors.initials: HTT
authors.lastname: Dao
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Parasitology and Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium.
authors.forename: Veronique
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Dermauw
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gabriël
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, Khon Kaen University, Thailand.
authors.forename: Apiporn
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Suwannatrai
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, Khon Kaen University, Thailand.
authors.forename: Smarn
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tesana
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health, Hanoi, Viet Nam.
authors.forename: Giang Thanh Thi
authors.initials: GTT
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium; Department of Virology, Parasitology and Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium. Electronic address: pdorny@itg.be.
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dorny
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D058487:Cercaria / Q000469:parasitology*; D005399:Fishes / Q000469:parasitology*; D005838:Genotype; D009889:Opisthorchiasis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D015995:Prevalence; D012908:Snails / Q000469:parasitology*; D013785:Thailand / Q000453:epidemiology; D014744:Vietnam / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Bithynia spp.; Cyprinidae; Opisthorchis viverrini; Vietnam