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== Fasciolosis ==
== Fasciolosis ==
[[Image:Fasciola hepatica.jpg|thumb|right|150px|''Fasciola hepatica'' - Joaquim Castellà Veterinary Parasitology Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona]]
The adult liver fluke, ''Fasciola hepatica'', lives in the bile ducts of a wide range of animals, including sheep, cattle, rabits and, less often, horses. It can infect humans causing a painful abdominal disease. The intermediate host in the UK is a mud snail, ''Lymnaea truncatula''. Significant economic losses occur in western parts of the British Isles. Deaths, clinical and subclinical disease in cattle is confined to a younger stock. Fasciolosis is a seasonal disease with more serious outbreaks occurring in some years than in others. A similar but slightly larger species, ''F. gigantica'', occurs in wetter tropical regions.
The adult liver fluke, ''Fasciola hepatica'', lives in the bile ducts of a wide range of animals, including sheep, cattle, rabits and, less often, horses. It can infect humans causing a painful abdominal disease. The intermediate host in the UK is a mud snail, ''Lymnaea truncatula''. Significant economic losses occur in western parts of the British Isles. Deaths, clinical and subclinical disease in cattle is confined to a younger stock. Fasciolosis is a seasonal disease with more serious outbreaks occurring in some years than in others. A similar but slightly larger species, ''F. gigantica'', occurs in wetter tropical regions.