First report of the giant liver fluke (Fascioloides magna) infection in farmed fallow deer (Dama dama) in Poland – pathomorphological changes and molecular identification

Abstract

A 3-year-old female fallow deer was subjected to the necropsy and virological testing, due to a suspected infectious disease in the herd of farmed deer in the Southeastern region of Poland. The animal was found negative for the presence of BVDV, BoHV-1, BTV, and EHDV antibodies and BVDV antigen. The toxicological examination did not reveal any coccidiostats, mycotoxins, rodenticides, carbamate pesticides, and organophosphorus pesticides. The flukes found during postmortem examination were first characterised microscopically as Fascioloides magna and later their identity was confirmed by PCR and sequencing. The autopsy revealed lesions characteristic for F. magna infection, including different size cystic spaces in the liver, filled with brownish mucous fluid and flukes, and black pigment covering the surface of parietal and visceral peritoneum with the highest concentrations localised next to the liver. The changes observed in the liver tissue were typical of liver cirrhosis. The results demonstrated that in Poland, where the cervid farming is developing dynamically, the problem of fascioloidosis is present and may probably exert a significantly negative influence on the productivity of such farms if no antiparasitic treatment is performed.

Morphology and molecular study of Fascioloides magna – a growing threat to cervids (Cervidae) in Poland

“…The infection was regional, affecting several parts of Silesia into which wapiti had previously been imported. The spread of this parasite among wild cervids (mainly roe and red deer) and in herds of farmed fallow deer is now encompassing larger areas of southern Poland (2,3,6,17). The study presented here indicates detailed pathological and histopathological changes in the liver of wild cervids, including roe deer in Poland, which were subjected to such study for the first time.…”

“…In recent years the introduction of cervids across Poland, particularly the fallow deer, may also play an important role in the transmission of the F. magna fluke. The number of fallow deer farms is growing rapidly, and rearing conditions may contribute to parasite infections (6). Fallow deer are eagerly bought by hunters and placed in open hunting grounds, where their parasite fauna is released into the environment, leading to further sources of infection.…”

Infectious Disease Monitoring of European Bison (Bison bonasus)

“…Therefore, the establishment of commercial American bison farms disqualifies the immediate vicinity as potential places for the release of European bison into the wild. Moreover, the presence of American bison poses a critical epizootic risk to the European cousin, since they can transmit the pathogens threating European bison health, which are absent or emerging in Europe [9], for example, Fasciola magna invasions [10] or epizootic hemorrhagic disease, caused by EHDV [11]. The close interspecies relationship does not ensure similar susceptibility to diseases.…”

Transmission risk assessment of invasive fluke Fascioloides magna using GIS-modelling and multicriteria analysis methods

“…For a long time, the Czech focus was restricted only to the territory of Czech Republic (Ullrich, 1930;Leontovyč et al, 2014). However, the very recent fi ndings of F. magna confi rmed the parasite expansion into new areas in Poland, in particular Lower Silesian Wilderness (Pyziel et al, 2014; and Podkarpackie Province (Karamon et al, 2015;Juhásová et al, 2016). On the contrary, the Danube fl oodplain forests (DFF) represent dynamically expanding European natural focus of fascioloidosis even since the fi rst F. magna fi ndings in Austria (Pfeiffer, 1983), Slovakia (Rajský et al, 1994), and Hungary (Majoros & Sztojkov, 1994).…”