Arakonak salyangozlarda fasciola türlerinin moleküler karekterizasyonu

Trematode parasites cause the Food-borne trematodiasis which is in the list of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Poor people living in the developing world are mostly affected by these diseases. Fascioliasis occurs when the definitive hosts i.e. herbivorous mammals or humans (accidental hosts) ingest the infective metacercarial cysts of trematodes from the genus Fasciola. Snails are the intermediate host of Fasciola hepatica. In the current study, 500 snail samples were collected from three different regions of Elazig province. Genomic DNA was extracted from individual snail samples and cercarial stage of liver fluke was detected through its intermediate snail host. The mt-CO1 gene region of 446-bp was amplified through PCR using specific primers and molecular prevalence of Fasciola spp in snail samples was detected. Among 500 collected samples 18 were found positive. Prevalence percentage in Keban was 2.78%, in Sivrice 7.08%. Overall percentage was recorded as 3.6%. In conclusion, this study has demonstrated the cercarial prevalence in snails using molecular detection techniques.