• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.555-565
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• 1993

The studies on the liver fluke of Korea have been reviewed. The fluke is Fasciola hepatica. Its intermediate host is Lymnaea biridis, whose principal habitats are rice paddies. The first fascioliasis of Korean native(beef) cattle was reported in 1915. Bovine fascioliasis is present throughout the conuntry, including north Korea, with the average prevalence of 30%. The prevalence of the disease is about the same in dairy cattle, which have been imported from other countries since 1960s. The disease was also found in Korea in other species of animals such as sheep, goats, deer of zoo and farms, and guinea pigs of a laboratory. Human fascioliasis was reported ; 35 cases by fecal examination and 11 by both parasitology and pathology. Of the latter 11 cases, 5 were ectopic parasitism. Economic loss due to the reduced carcass weight and milk production, and liver condemnation was great. Almost all flukicides developed in other countries are commercially available in Korea.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.45-51
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• 2012

Fascioliasis is one of the public health problems in the world. Cysteine proteinases (CP) released by $Fasciola$ $gigantica$ play a key role in parasite feeding, migration through host tissues, and in immune evasion. There has been some evidence from several parasite systems that proteinases might have potential as protective antigens against parasitic infections. Cysteine proteinases were purified and tested in vaccine trials of sheep infected with the liver fluke. Multiple doses (2 mg of CP in Freund's adjuvant followed by 3 booster doses 1 mg each at 4 week intervals) were injected intramuscularly into sheep 1 week prior to infect orally with 300 $F.$ $gigantica$ metacercariae. All the sheep were humanely slaughtered 12 weeks after the first immunization. Changes in the worm burden, ova count, and humoral and cellular responses were evaluated. Significant reduction was observed in the worm burden (56.9%), bile egg count (70.7%), and fecel egg count (75.2%). Immunization with CP was also found to be associated with increases of total IgG, $IgG_1$, and $IgG_2$ ($P$<0.05). Data showed that the serum cytokine levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, IL-12, IFN-${\gamma}$, and TNF-${\alpha}$, revealed significant decreases ($P$<0.05). However, the anti-inflammatory cytokine levels, IL-10, TGF-${\beta}$, and IL-6, showed significant increases ($P$<0.05). In conclusion, it has been found that CP released by $F.$ $gigantica$ are highly important candidates for a vaccine antigen because of their role in the fluke biology and host-parasite relationships.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.60 no.5
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• pp.367-370
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• 2022

Fascioliasis is a parasitic infection caused by liver flukes. Although several cases have been reported in Korea, phylogenetic analysis of isolates is lacking. In this study, a 66-year-old woman with right upper quadrant (RUQ) abdominal pain was diagnosed as fascioliasis involving abdominal muscle by imaging study. She received praziquantel treatment, but symptoms were not improved. Lateral movement of the abscess lesion was followed. Trematode parasite was surgically removed from the patient's rectus abdominis muscle. The fluke was identified as Fasciola hepatica based on sequence analysis of 18S rDNA. To determine the phylogenetic position of this Fasciola strain (named Korean Fasciola 1; KF1), the cox1 gene (273 bp) was analyzed and compared with the genes of 17 F. hepatica strains isolated from cows, sheep, goats, and humans from various countries. Phylogenetic analysis showed that KF1 was closely related with the isolates from China goat.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.193-196
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• 2014

Fascioliasis is a zoonotic infection caused by Fasciola hepatica or Fasciola gigantica. We report an 87-year-old Korean male patient with postprandial abdominal pain and discomfort due to F. hepatica infection who was diagnosed and managed by endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) with extraction of 2 worms. At his first visit to the hospital, a gallbladder stone was suspected. CT and magnetic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) showed an intraductal mass in the common bile duct (CBD) without proximal duct dilatation. Based on radiological findings, the presumed diagnosis was intraductal cholangiocarcinoma. However, in ERCP which was performed for biliary decompression and tissue diagnosis, movable materials were detected in the CBD. Using a basket, 2 living leaf-like parasites were removed. The worms were morphologically compatible with F. hepatica. To rule out the possibility of the worms to be another morphologically close species, in particular F. gigantica, 1 specimen was processed for genetic analysis of its ITS-1 region. The results showed that the present worms were genetically identical (100%) with F. hepatica but different from F. gigantica.