FINDING AND MOLECULAR IDENTIFICATION OF FASCIOLA SPP. IN BUFFALOES IN THE CORRIENTES PROVINCE, ARGENTINA

MARTINEZ IRINA; SCARCELLA SILVANA; DEBARBORA VALERIA; CESPEDES MIRNA; CERIANI CAROLINA; ALVAREZ JOSE

cartagena

Congreso; 11th world buffalo congress; 2016

In Argentina the NEA region (North East Argentina) holds most of the buffalo heads. Buffalo breeding systems are principally extensive, in natural grass with humid subtropical climate. Current production systems buffaloes placed in different environments of their own, this situation causes loss of rusticity and infestation of parasites of cattle, with which it shares the natural and artificial systems grazing. Preferably evolution in aquatic environments, where the intermediate hosts thrives led the buffalo to infestation by Fasciola. Traditionally, the identification of Fasciola spp. has been based solely on traditional morphological approaches. However, due to the limitations of these methods, molecular approaches have been developed andused for the identification of flukes and will also prove useful in etiological studies of fasciolosis. The aim of the present work was identification of Fasciola spp. affecting buffalos in Corrientes province. Flukes were recovered from the common bile ducts, confiscated by Flukes, and rinsed thoroughly with warm (37 °C) sterile saline solution to remove bile and/or adhering materials. Samples were preserved in ethanol 99 % at -20 °C until their use.A single-step multiplex PCR was used for testing with the DNA extracted from adult worms, producing amplicons of 1,031 bp for F. hepatica and 615 bp for F. gigantica.Out of a total of 99 livers, 9 were seized by flukes in the abattoir, 5 of them were processed in the laboratory and 332flukes were recovered, making an average of 65 parasites per animal. Some random samples were taken, which after being classified as F. hepatica by taxonomic characteristics. They were used for molecular studies. The PCR results confirm that flukes are of the F.hepatica species. Further work on this relevant area is requiredin order to understand Fasciola epidemiology and evolution as well as more effective means of parasite control.