Fasciola hepatica development in the experimentally infected black rat Rattus rattus

Abstract

The finding of natural infection of Rattus rattus by Fasciola hepatica on Corsica has stimulated further research into the role of the black rat in the epidemiology of fascioliasis. Corsican black rats were experimentally individually infected with 20 metacercariae from cattle and murine isolates obtained from naturally infected bovines and black rats. The following results were obtained: (a) in R. rattus infected with the cattle isolate, normal adult fluke development took place and infection persisted for a long period, with emission of eggs showing embryogenic capacity; (b) the development of F. hepatica adults paralleled the ontogenetic trajectories observed in other rodent-F. hepatica models; and (c) fluke adults obtained in R. rattus infected with the murine isolate exhibited a similar pattern. These findings strongly suggest that the black rat may be one of the wild reservoirs of F. hepatica and may have contributed to the large geographical extent of the disease on Corsica.

Myocastor coypus as a reservoir host of Fasciola hepatica in France

“…Lagomorphs and marsupials have been described as reservoirs of F. hepatica [3,29]. The black rat Rattus rattus has been described as a reservoir of fasciolosis only in specific biotopes [31]. Brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) and mice (Mus musculus) are commonly used as definitive hosts for experimental purposes; but they seem to be only sporadically naturally infected: only one mouse infection has been described, in Corsica [19], and brown rat infection has been observed in Iraq [22].…”

Inventory of wild rodents and lagomorphs as natural hosts ofFasciola hepaticaon a farm located in a humid area in Loire Atlantique (France)

“…Other small mammals species are only able to harbour fluke livers in particular environmental conditions (Rattus spp., micromammals) and serve, as the black rat Rattus rattus in Corsica, as a reservoir of fasciolosis in these specific biotopes (Valero et al, 1998) [Mas- Table I), fluke eggs eclosability and developmental success are poor (Boray, 1969;Rondelaud & Dreyfuss, 1995 (Jouventin et al, 1996), suggest that M. coypus probably plays a major epidemiological role in fasciolosis. …”

Impact of climate change and man-made irrigation systems on the transmission risk, long-term trend and seasonality of human and animal fascioliasis in Pakistan

“…Although different livestock species represent similar infection sources (Valero and Mas-Coma, 2000;Valero et al, 2001), animal species susceptibility should be considered. The livestock species influences fluke development and egg production and shedding (Valero et al, 1998(Valero et al, , 2002(Valero et al, , 2009). …”