Inventory of wild rodents and lagomorphs as natural hosts of Fasciola hepatica on a farm located in a humid area in Loire Atlantique (France)

• Main Authors: Ménard A., L'Hostis M., Leray G., Marchandeau S., Pascal M., Roudot N., Michel V., Chauvin A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: EDP Sciences 2000-06-01
• Series: Parasite
• Subjects: epidemiology; Fasciola hepatica; Loire Atlantique; Myocastor coypus; Oryctolagus cuniculus; rodent; wild fauna
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/parasite/2000072077

With the objective of studying the role of wild fauna in the epidemiology of fasciolosis disease, a definitive wild-host inventory was carried out in a french farm where infected domestic hosts (cows) cohabit with wild potential ones. Liver flukes, faecal eggs and antibodies were looked for in lagomorphs (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and rodents (Myocastor coypus, Ondatra zybethicus, Rattus norvegicus, Arvicola sapidus and micromammal species) trapped in the study area. Presence of Fasciola hepatica was detected in two species: O. cuniculus and M. coypus. Infection rates were respectively 34 % (42/124) and 55 % (106/193). Liver flukes were found in 78 M. coypus (n = 192) and 11 O. cuniculus (n = 35). No other species was infected by F. hepatica. The number of animals shedding fluke eggs was higher in M. coypus (49 out of 1 27 sampled; 38.6 %) than in O. cuniculus (two out of 17 sampled; 11.7 %).The results indicate that M. coypus may play a role in the maintenance and the dissemination of F. hepatica in various environments and open a discussion on the role of other natural wild hosts.