Distinct Distribution of <i>Dicrocoelium dendriticum</i> and <i>D. chinensis</i> in Iwate Prefecture, Japan, and a New Final Host Record for <i>D. chinensis</i>

Abstract

This study dealt with the morphological and molecular identification of Dicrocoelium flukes obtained from Japanese serow (Capricornis crispus) and sika deer (Cervus nippon centralis) in the twelve districts of Iwate Prefecture, Japan. Dicrocoelium dendriticum and D. chinensis were exclusively detected in the western, and coastal and eastern areas of Iwate Prefecture, respectively. This geographically distinct occurrence of the two Dicrocoelium species would be associated with the distribution of the final hosts, sika deer for D. chinensis and Japanese serow for D. dendriticum. This study also reports that Capricornis crispus is a new final host of D. chinensis.

Dicrocoelium Dendriticum Infection in a Patient with Chronic Schistosomiasis Haematobium

“…Abroad, dicrocoeliasis was reported in the Canadian sympatric elk and beef cattle (Beck et al, 2014), in Côte d'Ivoire in the non-human primates (Kouassi et al, 2015), in Ghanaian school children (Ofori et al, 2015), in Indian goats (Godara et al, 2014), in Italian patients and the imported beef cattle (Stancampiano et al, 2007), in Japan D. chinensis was reported in Iwate prefecture (Ohtori et al, 2014), in Malaysian edible animals (Ran et al, 2015), in Switzerland, dicrocoeliasis was the most significant parasite of llamas and alpacas (Hilbe et al, 2015), in Turkish University students (Köksal et al, 2010) and in Turkish patients and garden snails (Köse et al, 2015). Hatam-Nahavandi et al (2015) in Iran stated that in recent years, decreasing annual rainfalls in some countries and population growth forced to a shortage of freshwater resources.…”

Morphological and Molecular Characterization of Dicrocoelium spp. Isolates from Sheep, Goat and Cattle in the West of Iran

“…Three species of the Dicrocoelium genus, namely, D.dendriticum, D. hospes, and D. chinensis are recognized as the causative agents of the dicrocoeliosis. D. dendriticum has been reported in Europe, Asia, northern Africa, and North America, whereas D. hospes is distributed in Africa, and D. chinensis in Eastern Asia and Europe [4][5][6][7].…”

The first detection of <i>Dicrocoelium chinensis</i> sporocysts from the land snail <i>Aegista vulgivaga</i> in Gifu Prefecture, Japan

“…The genus Dicrocoelium, including Dicrocoelium chinensis (Sudarikov and Ryjikov, 1951) Tang and Tang, 1978 and Dicrocoelium dendriticum (Rudolphi, 1819), has been detected over a wide area of Japan, except in small islands such as the Nansei Islands [7,14,21,22,30,31]. Dicrocoelium chinensis has been mainly reported in sika deer, Cervus nippon Temminck, 1838, and occasionally in Japanese serow, Capricornis crispus (Temminck, 1844) [7,21,22,31], over a wide area of Honshu Island. However, the intermediate hosts of the fluke, D. chinensis, have not been confirmed in this country.…”

“…; however, no paper was cited for the experiment, and no evidence was described for the genus identification of the sporocysts. Moreover, C. lubrica is distributed mainly on Hokkaido Island and is rare or absent in other areas, including Honshu Island [ 1 , 2 ], even though D. chinensis has been found in wild ruminants on this island [ 7 , 21 , 22 ]. Thus, the aim of this study was to find wild land snails infected with D. chinensis sporocysts at a location in Gifu Prefecture, Honshu Island, Japan, where the fluke infection has been reported in sika deer [ 7 ], and C. lubrica presence has not been reported [ 2 ].…”

“…In Iwate Prefecture, Japan, located in the northern area of A. vulgivaga distribution, the habitats of D. dendriticum and D. chinensis do not overlap as the former was exclusively detected in Japanese serow from the mountainous western region, and the latter was found in sika deer and occasionally in Japanese serow from the eastern coastal areas [ 21 ]. If A. vulgivaga can act as an intermediate host of D. chinensis , the isolation of the two Dicrocoelium species is probably a consequence of the distribution of their definitive hosts, since A. vulgivaga has been recorded in both the mountainous and coastal areas of this prefecture [ 2 ].…”