Epidemiological Study on Fascioliasis in Animals and Human in New Valley Governorate and Evaluation of Risk Factors

Abstract

Fascioliasis is an important worldwide zoonotic parasitic disease. In Egypt, fascioliasis in humans and animals is endemic and causes both clinical and epidemiological health problems. The purpose of this study was to assess the influence of related risk factors in two regions of the New Valley Governorate, Egypt, as well as the prevalence of fascioliasis in humans and farm animals based on fecal examination. The fecal sedimentation technique was used to look for Fasciola eggs in the fecal samples. Between December 2022 and June 2023, 180 human stool samples and 370 animal fecal samples (300 cattle, 70 sheep) were collected. Depending on coprological examination, the prevalence of fascioliasis was 0 % (0/180) in human and 1.6% (6 out of 370) in animals, sheep showed higher infection 2.9% (2 out of 70) than cattle 1.3% (4 out of 300) with non-significant association between infection and species, age range, sex of animals, locality, time of infection. In conclusion, even though human fascioliasis was not found in this investigation, the animal fascioliasis existence can pose a risk to public health. Thus, it's critical to implement policies that will minimize the chance that animals in the governorate of New Valley may become infected with Fasciola.