Liver fluke (Fasciola hepatica) naturally infecting introduced European brown hare (Lepus europaeus) in northern Patagonia: Phenotype, prevalence and potential risk

Fascioliasis has recently been included in the WHO list of Neglected Zoonotic Diseases. Besides being a major veterinary health problem, fascioliasis has large underdeveloping effects on the human communities affected. Though scarcely considered in fascioliasis epidemiology, it is well recognized that both native and introduced wildlife species may play a significant role as reservoirs of the disease. The objectives are to study the morphological characteristics of Fasciola hepatica adults and eggs in a population of Lepus europaeus, to assess liver fluke prevalence, and to analyze the potential reservoir role of the European brown hare in northern Patagonia, Argentina, where fascioliasis is endemic. Measures of F. hepatica found in L. europaeus from northern Patagonia demonstrate that the liver fluke is able to fully develop in wild hares and to shed normal eggs through their faeces. Egg shedding to the environment is close to the lower limit obtained for pigs, a domestic animal whose epidemiological importance in endemic areas has already been highlighted. The former, combined with the high prevalence found (14.28%), suggest an even more important role in the transmission cycle than previously considered. The results obtained do not only remark the extraordinary plasticity and adaptability of this trematode species to different host species, but also highlight the role of the European brown hare, and other NIS, as reservoirs capable for parasite spillback to domestic and native cycle, representing a potentially important, but hitherto neglected, cause of disease emergence.

Fil: Cuervo Bustamante, Pablo Fernando. Universidad ; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Ciencias Veterinarias del Litoral. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Instituto de Ciencias Veterinarias del Litoral; Argentina

Fil: Cataldo, Sophia Di. Universidad ; Argentina

Fil: Fantozzi, María Cecilia. Universidad ; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Ciencias Veterinarias del Litoral. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Instituto de Ciencias Veterinarias del Litoral; Argentina

Fil: Deis, Erika. Universidad ; Argentina

Fil: Diaz Isenrath, Gabriela Beatriz. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina

Fil: Viberti, Gabriela. Universidad del Aconcagua; Argentina

Fil: Artigas, Patricio. Universidad de Valencia; España

Fil: Peixoto, Raquel. Universidad de Valencia; España

Fil: Valero, M. Adela. Universidad de Valencia; España

Fil: Mera y Sierra, Roberto. Universidad ; Argentina

Fil: Mas-coma, Santiago. Universidad de Valencia; España