Dicrocoelium dendriticum

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Dicrocoelium dendriticum

Dicrocoelium dendriticum - Joaquim Castellà Veterinary Parasitology Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Dicrocoelium dendriticum adult from horse faeces - Joaquim Castellà Veterinary Parasitology Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
  • This is a small fluke (<1.5cm) found in the bile ducts of ruminants and some other herbivores
  • The flukes migrate directly up the common bile duct to reach the bile ducts within the liver
    • They are therefore much less pathogenic than Fasciola (which burrow through the liver parenchyma)
  • Dicrocoelium is rare in Britain, occurring mainly in the Hebrides, but is common in Europe
    • Small dark-brown eggs are shed in faeces
    • These contain a miracidium
    • If ingested by a land snail, the flukes develop, forming cercariae
    • These are excreted by the snails in slime-balls, which are collected and eaten by wood-ants
    • Metacercariae form inside the ants
    • The final host is infected when ants are eaten at grazing
    • The presence of metacercariae in the nerve ganglia of the ants makes them revert to a primitive behaviour pattern, whereby they cling onto herbage overnight instead of retreating to the nest enhancing the likelihood of being eaten by grazing animals