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VIII.51 - Fascioliasis

from Part VIII - Major Human Diseases Past and Present

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2008

Kenneth F. Kiple
Affiliation:
Bowling Green State University, Ohio
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Summary

The liver fluke Fasciola hepatica is usually a parasite of sheep and cattle. “Liver rot” in sheep was described in a French work in 1379, and the first human case was described in 1760. The fluke’s life cycle was discovered in 1881. Fascioliasis is a significant veterinary problem, but human infection is also fairly common. The fluke’s life cycle is much like that of Fasciolopsis buski (Fasciolopsiasis), with people or herbivores infected by eating raw watercress or other plants contaminated by the cysts of the fluke. Adult worms settle down in the bile ducts after a period of wandering in the liver. Mild infestations may cause little damage, but fever, jaundice, and right upper quadrant abdominal pain radiating to the shoulder blade are common symptoms. Bile ducts may become partially or totally obstructed, and liver destruction can be severe.

F. hepatica is cosmopolitan in distribution, with important foci of human infection in southern France, in Algeria, and in South America. Diagnosis is made by examining the feces of symptomatic patients with a microscope to find the eggs. Treatment is generally effective. Prevention is by treating sheep to keep them from perpetuating the cycle, controlling snail intermediate hosts, and keeping domestic animals away from ponds where watercress is grown.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1993

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References

Deschiens, R., LeCorroller, Y., and Mandoul, R.. 1961. Enquête sur les foyers de distomatose hépéatique de la Vallée de Lot. Annales de I’Institut Pasteur 10.Google Scholar
Foster, W. D. 1965. A short history of parasitology. Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Kean, B. H., Mott, Kenneth E., and Russell, Adair J., eds. 1978. Tropical medicine and parasitology: Classic investigations, Vol. II. Ithaca and London. [Nine important accounts, including two from the sixteenth century].Google Scholar
Reinhard, Edward G. 1957. The discovery of the life cycle of the liver fluke. Experimental Parasitology 6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

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  • Fascioliasis
  • Edited by Kenneth F. Kiple, Bowling Green State University, Ohio
  • Book: The Cambridge World History of Human Disease
  • Online publication: 28 March 2008
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521332866.113
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  • Fascioliasis
  • Edited by Kenneth F. Kiple, Bowling Green State University, Ohio
  • Book: The Cambridge World History of Human Disease
  • Online publication: 28 March 2008
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521332866.113
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Fascioliasis
  • Edited by Kenneth F. Kiple, Bowling Green State University, Ohio
  • Book: The Cambridge World History of Human Disease
  • Online publication: 28 March 2008
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521332866.113
Available formats
×