To the Editor: Although liver flukes (genus, Fasciola) are parasites of livestock, human infection is a significant global health problem,1 albeit seldom seen in Australia.2 Infected livestock contaminate waterways with parasite eggs, leading to infection of snails that shed metacercariae on to vegetation, such as watercress.1,3,4 Adult parasites reside in and damage the bile ducts.1,3 Liver flukes could cause disease if introduced into the food chain.1
The full article is accessible to AMA members and paid subscribers. Login to read more or purchase a subscription now.
Please note: institutional and Research4Life access to the MJA is now provided through Wiley Online Library.
- 1. Mas-Coma S, Bargues MD, Esteban JG. Human fasciolosis. In: Dalton JP, editor. Fasciolosis. Wallingford: CAB International, 1999: 411-434.
- 2. Torresi J, Richards MJ, Taggart GJ, Smallwood RA. Fasciola hepatica liver infection in a Victorian dairy farmer. Med J Aust 1996; 164: 511.
- 3. Boray JC. Experimental fascioliasis in Australia. Adv Parasitol 1969; 7: 95-210.
- 4. McCausland I, Vandegraaff R, Nugent L. Fascioliasis in dairy cows on irrigated pasture. Aust Vet J 1980; 56: 324-326.
- 5. O'Neill SM, Parkinson M, Strauss W, et al. Immunodiagnosis of Fasciola hepatica infection (fascioliasis) in a human population in the Bolivian Altiplano using purified cathepsin L cysteine proteinase. Am J Trop Med Hyg 1998; 58: 417-423.