| Fasciolosis is a worldwide disease of man and animals result in huge economic losses. The objective of this study was to characterize for the first time Fasciola gigantica in Iraq employing molecular approaches. In this work, 65 adult fasciola worms were isolated from sheep liver of different age and both sex during May-August 2017, in Kirkuk city, Iraq. Molecular analysis conducted on the internal transcribed spacer 1 to characterize the species of parasite depending on the sequence analysis. Results reveal that the isolated worms were Fasciola gigantica and they have a great similarity, up to 100%, compared with other global isolates. In addition, results documented a single nucleotide polymorphism, at the 276 th nucleotide of the studied fragment, and the isolates of our project highly related to various global isolates by using phylogenetic tree analysis. In conclusion,our isolates are faithfully analogous to global isolates with common SNP at 276 th nucleotide, and ITS1 gene considers a novel marker in identifying Fasciola gigantica and study the relation with other isolates.

This study was conducted to investigate the 18S rRNA gene of Fasciola gigantica obtained from the liver of cattle live in Aqrah city, Iraq. Fifty-nine Fasciola flukes were collected through routine investigation from livers of naturally infected local cattle (42 cows), from May to August 2017, at the central slaughterhouse of Aqrah city, Kurdistan region of Iraq, the flukes were washed by PBS and then fixed in ethanol. Genomic DNA was extracted, and a 560 bp fragment was amplified by PCR, subsequent by sequencing of PCR products. A remarkable result of this project was the deposition of our gene isolate in GenBank (Accession No. MG786553). However, it was confirmed by the sequence results that isolate species was F. gigantica, and interestingly our samples sequences have alignment match of 100% with many international isolates, without genetic mutations or variations. It is concluded that molecular study could be utilized for both diagnosis and differential diagnosis of parasites with huge precise. Also, an 18S rRNA gene is a perfect fragment for molecular study and phylogenetic analysis of F. gigantica, also our samples have 100% alignment match with universal isolates.

Echinococcus granulosus (E. granulosus) is a dog tapeworm cestoda; it is larval stage responsible to cystic echinococcosis, one of the most common and dangerous worldwide zoonotic parasitic disease. The aim of this study was the molecular identification of the local strain of E. granulosus isolated from sheep liver slaughtered in the principal abattoir of Aqrah city, Northern of Iraq during Jun-Nov. 2017. In this study, 37 sheep liver infected by E. granulosus, 12 of high DNA purity fertile (have protoscolices) cyst of them were considered. A molecular study conducted on the mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase 1 (nad1) gene. Results demonstrated that E. granulosus isolates were sheep strain (G1) genotype, with fascinating highly corresponding 95% and 96% to global isolates, particularly to north African and Mediterranean countries, by employing phylogenetic tree analysis. So, the isolates of our project were deposited in Genbank (accession No. MG792129). This study findings provide that the local isolates of E. granulosus from sheep liver in Aqrah city, Northern of Iraq are loyally equivalent to global strains and isolates, in addition, nad1 gene considers a perfect biomarker in a molecular identification and phylogenetic study of this parasite.

T he housefly, Musca domestica, as a part of arthropods, is supposed to have developed in the Cenozoic era, perhaps in the Middle East, and has been extended over the world as a human commensal. Fly consider the most prevalent vector of parasitic diseases of man and animals (El-Sherbini and Gneidy, 2012). In the tropic, housefly associated with unsanitary areas, and can exist in both rural and urban zones of tropical and hot climates (Hussein and John, 2014). Likewise, Musca domestica abundantly grows in the fields of human activities like abattoir, poultry and animal farmhouses, food markets, and hospitals (Iqbal et al., 2014).Countless pathogenic microorganisms can be transmitted mechanically by housefly, triggering fatal complaints as anthrax, leprosy, tuberculosis, typhoid fever, dysentery, and various intestinal parasites (Graczyk et al., 2001; Al-Aredhi, 2015). In addition, this arthropod contributed to the transmission of various illnesses-causing factors of human, domestic animals, and birds (Graczyk et al., 1999; Hewitt 2011). Stimulatingly, Nassiri et al. (2015 believed that the characteristics and kinds of pathogenic agents carried by houseflies depended on the area of an insect where collected. Mechanical transmission of pathogenic agents may be the most critical one among the other routes as via feces or saliva of the flies. On the other hand, an Egyptian study revealed more than 25% of investigating flies were contaminated with various species of parasites like E. histolytica, C. parvum, B. coli, A. lumbricoides, A. doudunale, E. vermicularis, T. trichura, and S. stercoralis (El-Sherbini and Gneidy, 2012).In a recent review study, Khamesipour et al. (2018) demonstrated previous project deals with more than ten types of parasites with medical and/or veterinary significance, that could be transmitted by houseflies in different parts of the world, with the wide prevalence percentage (5-62%) depending on the species of parasites. According to the kno-research Article Abstract | Houseflies (Musca domestica) considered the most predominant vector of zoonotic parasitic diseases of human and domestic animals. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of parasites and their kind that could be transmitted mechanically by flies. A total of 140 houseflies were randomly collected from butcher markets, sweet markets, toilets of schools, and groceries in Mosul city, Iraq, from August to October 2017. The results revealed the existence of 11 types of parasites. Entamoeba histolytica and Entamoeba coli have predominant percentage of 17.02% for each one, whereas the least prevalence was Isospora spp. (2.1%) of total investigated parasites. Other parasites, Cryptosporidium, Giardia Lamblia, Fasciola hepatica, and others have various percentages. It was concluded that houseflies are still public health trouble and it should be noted that climate changes in Mosul city at summer, go together with the bad drainage of sewage and accumulated rubbish, has a key role in the widespread of houseflies.