Dicrocoeliidae

JACQUIELYN A. BAYDO, DVM

Class Trematoda: Digenea
Families:
1. Fasciolidae (4 genera)
2. Dicrocoeliidae (3 genera)
3. Opistorchiidae (4 genera)
4. Echinostomatidae (5 genera)
5. Heterophyidae (6 genera)
6. Plagiorchidae (2 genera)
7. Notocotylidae (3 genera)
8. Brachylaemidae (2 genera)
9. Troglotrematidae (4 genera)
10. Cyclocoelidae (1 genus)
11. Paramphistomatidae (10 genera)
12. Strigeidae (3 genera)
13. Diplostomatidae (2 genera)
14. Schistosomatidae (3 genera)
 Family Dicrocoeliidae
Small to medium sized flukes
Biliary and pancreatic ducts of vertebrates
Miracidia: (+) in eggs when passed in the feces
Redial stage (-)
 Family Dicrocoeliidae
Body:
◦ Flattened and elongate
◦ Weak musculature and loose parenchyma
◦ Suckers are not far apart
Pharynx, esophagus: (+)
Intestinal ceca: simple
Excretory bladder: simple and tubular
Testes: posterior to ventral sucker
Genital pore: opens in the middle line anterior to the ventral sucker
Family Dicrocoeliidae
Major genera causing veterinary diseases:
Dicrocoelium
Eurytrema
Platynosomum
 Family Dicrocoeliidae
Dicrocoelium dendriticum (lancet fluke)
• Adult: 6 mm–1.0 cm long and 1.5–2.5 mm wide
• Distinctly lanceolate, semitransparent, smooth cuticle
• Oral sucker smaller than ventral
• Testes:
◦ Slightly lobed; lie almost tandem
◦ Immediately posterior to the ventral sucker
• Ovary: directly behind testes
• Vitelline glands: lateral, middle third
 Dicrocoelium dendriticum Life Cycle
Geographical distribution: Worldwide except for
South Africa and Australia
Predilection site: Liver

DH: sheep, cattle, goats, deer, pigs and man (rarely)

1st IH: land snails (Zebrina detrita, Cionella lubrica)

2nd IH: ants (Formica sp.)

DOI:10.1038/s41598-
018-26977-2
 Dicrocoelium dendriticum
PPP: 10 – 12 weeks
Total life cycle: ~6 months
Pathogenesis:
◦ In heavier infections:
◦ Fibrosis of the smaller bile ducts
◦ Extensive cirrhosis
◦ Marked distention of bile ducts
CS:
◦ Usually absent
◦ Anemia, edema, emaciation, and reduced wool growth
Dx: Fecal examination, necropsy
 Dicrocoelium dendriticum
Treatment:
• Many flukicides: no activity @ recommended fluke dose rates
• Effective anthelmintic treatments: Netobimin, Albendazole, Praziquantel
• Other drugs: e.g. fenbendazole are also effective, but at very high dose rates
Control:
• Tx of infected animals
• Regulate grazing period
• Disrupt ant nest
• Control snails by domestic poultry
 Family Dicrocoeliidae
Dicrocoelium hospes
• A closely related to D. dendriticum
• Found in the gall-bladder of the ox in the Sudan, Nigeria and Ghana
 Family Dicrocoeliidae
Platynosomum fastosum (Lizard poisoning fluke)
= Syn. P. concinnum, P. illiciens
• Adult: 4–8 × 1.5–2.5 mm.
• Less lanceolate than Dicrocoelium sp.
• Testes: horizontal in position
• Predilection site: bile and pancreatic ducts

Geographical distribution: South America, the Caribbean,

southern USA, west Africa, Malaysia, and the Pacific Islands
 Platynosomum fastosum Life Cycle
DH: cats (also reported in wild cats)

1st IH: Sublima octona (land snail)

2nd IH: terrestrial isopod (woodlouse),

Anolis cristatelus (lizard)
 Platynosomum fastosum Life Cycle
Recent studies… 2nd IH Paratenic Hosts

or

Mature daughter sporocyst (contains metacercaria)

containing cercariae
released from snail Metacercariae: migrate to
common bile ducts, smaller
ingestion
biliary ducts, gall bladder

Mature adults: develop

1st IH w/in 12 weeks
 Platynosomum fastosum
Pathogenesis:
◦ Mild inappetence
◦ In heavy infestations: so-called ‘lizard poisoning’
◦ Cirrhosis and jaundice have been reported with diarrhea and vomiting in terminal
cases

Clinical signs:
◦ Mild cases: vague chronic signs of unthriftiness may be observed
◦ Severe infections: anorexia, vomiting, diarrhea and jaundice leading to death
 Platynosomum fastosum
Diagnosis:
◦ Fecal examination for eggs
◦ Necropsy exam of the bile and pancreatic ducts for the presence of flukes.

Treatment: (reported effective)

◦ Praziquantel
◦ Nitroscanate (100 mg/kg)

Control: Preventing cats from hunting lizards can control infection.

 Family Dicrocoeliidae
Platynosomum ariestis
• Occurs in the intestine of sheep in Brazil
• Non-pathogenic
 Family Dicrocoeliidae
Eurytrema pancreaticum
Predilection site: Pancreatic ducts; occasionally the bile
ducts and the duodenum
Geographical distribution: Eastern Asia and South America

• Body: thick and armed with spines which are often lost in
the adult stage
• Suckers: oral sucker larger
• Pharynx: small
• Esophagus short
 Eurytrema pancreaticum
• Testes: horizontal, slightly posterior to the level of the
ventral sucker
• Genital pore: opens just behind the bifurcation of the
intestine
• Cirrus sac: tubular and reaches back past the anterior
margin of the ventral sucker
• Ovaries: near the median line behind the testes
• Uterus: fills the posterior part of the body
• Vitelline glands: follicular, laterally situated
 Eurytrema pancreaticum
DH: Cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats, pigs, camels and man

1st IH: Land snails, particularly of the genus

Bradybaena
2nd IH: Grasshoppers of the genus Conocephalus or
tree crickets (Oecanthus)

Ova: similar to Dicrocoelium

Metacercariae encyst in
the duodenum and
migrate to the pancreas
via the pancreatic duct
and reside in the small
ducts of the pancreas
 Eurytrema pancreaticum
PPP in cattle: 3 – 4 months
CS: No specific CS; Heavy infections – sporadic wasting syndrome and emaciation
Pathology:
◦ Large numbers of flukes – dilation and thickening of the pancreatic ducts and extensive
fibrosis
◦ Chronic interstitial pancreatitis (embedded flukes)
◦ Granulomatous reaction around fluke eggs
Diagnosis: Usually reported as an incidental finding at necropsy
Treatment: no specific treatment
Control: not feasible where the IH are endemic
 Family Dicrocoeliidae
Eurytrema coelomaticum
Predilection site: Pancreatic ducts, rarely the bile ducts
Geographical distribution: South America, Asia and Europe

LC, host range, pathogenesis, clinical, signs, diagnosis, pathology, epidemiology,

treatment and control similar to E. pancreaticum
 Family Dicrocoeliidae
Eurytrema ovis
• Tubangui 1925; peri-rectal fat of sheep
Eurytrema escuderoi
• Dr. Eduardo; peri-rectal fat of carabao.
Eurytrema procyonis
• Has been reported from the pancreatic ducts, gall bladder and bile ducts of cats, red
and grey foxes and racoons in the USA
Eurytrema brumpti
• Has been recorded from the liver and pancreas of African anthropoid apes
 Family Dicrocoeliidae, Others: Genus Athesmia and Concinnum
Athesmia foxi
◦ Sole species under this genus
◦ In bile ducts of monkeys
Concinnum procyonis = Eurytrema procyonis
◦ Pancreatic duct, gall bladder of cats, dogs, foxes
◦ Life cycle:
◦ 1 st IH – Snail (Mesodon thyroides)
◦ 2 nd IH – Probably grasshopper
Concinnum brumpti
◦ Liver and pancreas of apes
Concinnum ten
◦ Liver of wild carnivores