Trematode cercarial fauna obtained from the field-collected freshwater snails Lymnaea natalensis in Egypt

Abstract

Abstract Background Lymnaea natalensis is the snail intermediate host for Fasciola spp. parasites. The purpose of the present investigation is to detect the different trematodes’ larval stages in this snail from three rural localities in Giza Governorate (ElZeidia, Oseem, and ElMansuria), Egypt as examples and detecting the percentage of infection with Fasciola spp. and other trematodes cercariae. The samples were collected and examined for parasitic cercariae infections by using cercarial emergence and crushing techniques. Results From total examined snails, it was found that the infected snails included five types of the cercarial stages beside Fasciola cercariae and three types of metacercariae. These cercariae were xiphidio cercariae, gymnocephalus, echinostome cercariae, virgulate cercariae, Echinochasmus pelecani, and Palaeorchis cercariae. The infection rate in snails collected from ElZeidia was the higher infection rate (84%) than others from Oseem (76%) and ElMansuria (62%). Conclusion These findings confirmed that L. natalensis snails are not only a suitable intermediate host for Fasciola spp. but also for several parasites and play an important role in the transfer of different parasitic diseases to animals and humans.

Keywords

• Fasciolosis
• Lymnaea natalensis
• Trematodes cercariae