The prevalence of Fasciola hepatica in its snail intermediate host determined by DNA probe assay

Epidemiological studies onFasciola hepaticain Gafsa oases (South West of Tunisia)

“…This result is similar to that found in the middle of France with two infection periods: from June to July and from September to October. However, in the middle of Mexico, the infection of G. truncatula occurred only in August and November (Mendoza et al, 2005); in Florida from February to April (Kaplan et al, 1997) and in the north-east of Algeria from January to April in Constantine and from December to May in Jijel (Mekroud et al, 2004). …”

Fasciola hepatica: An assessment on the vectorial capacity of Radix labiata and R. balthica commonly found in Belgium

“…Furthermore, PCR was not performed on each individual snail, so the different infection rates were calculated using microscopic techniques. Therefore, considering the lack of sensitivity of microscopic examination, we only used the data recorded on day 30 PI to calculate infection rates (Kaplan et al, 1997). (2) Experimental infection of the three snail species showed significant variation in susceptibility towards F. hepatica.…”

“…Historically, three approaches have been used to diagnose trematode infections in snails: (1) observation of cercarial shedding, (2) dissection and (3) crushing, followed by microscopic examination (Kaplan et al, 1997). Although those techniques are simple, fast, and very cheap, they have low sensitivity and/or specificity.…”

“…For this reason, several DNA-or RNA-based techniques were developed (Shubkin et al, 1992;Rognlie et al, 1994;Kaplan et al, 1995;Kramer and Schnieder, 1998;Mostafa et al, 2003;Magalhaes et al, 2004;Cucher et al, 2006). These techniques are specific and sensitive (Kaplan et al, 1997) but are rarely used to detect naturally occurring infections, although this should be one of their main applications. They would be suitable, for example, for monitoring seasonal transmission during epidemiological studies (Rognlie et al, 1994;Kaplan et al, 1997).…”

“…These techniques are specific and sensitive (Kaplan et al, 1997) but are rarely used to detect naturally occurring infections, although this should be one of their main applications. They would be suitable, for example, for monitoring seasonal transmission during epidemiological studies (Rognlie et al, 1994;Kaplan et al, 1997).…”