CONCURRENT INFECTION OF BILIARY AMPHISTOME, GIGANTOCOTYLE EXPLANATUM WITH TROPICAL LIVER FLUKE, FASCIOLA GIGANTICA IN BUFFALOES OF NORTH INDIA

The helminths belonging to the family, Fasciolidae and Paramphistomidae i.e Fasciola gigantica and Gigantocotyle explanatum, respectively, have a usual tendency to exist together in the liver of the Indian water buffalo Bubalus bubalis, causing serious pathological damage to the vital organ, incurring huge economic losses. In the present study, a total of sixty liver samples were collected from slaughtered buffaloes of a local abattoir of Saharanpur in northern India. The study revealed that out of 25 animals which were found positive for the Fasciola gigantica infection (presence of adult flukes as a measure of being positive), 20 animals were positive for the G. explanatum. The overall abattoir prevalence of fasciolosis was 41.6 % and that of G. explanatum was 33.3% and the concurrency of these parasites was 80 %. The habitat preference by these worms may be a consequence of micro-environmental cues that guide these flukes to reach their habitat through different routes and establish a successful host-parasite relationship.