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Dicrocoelium dendriticum

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Encyclopedia of Parasitology

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Name

Greek: dikroos = twofold branching; koila = body cavity; Latin: dendriticus = branching; English: lancet liver fluke, small liver fluke.

Geographic Distribution/Epidemiology

Worldwide in regions with chalk-rich soils; high numbers of infected animals occur in North Africa, Siberia, South America; only a few humans are infected (mostly children) due to the peculiar infection route via ants.

Morphology/Life Cycle

The small liver fluke (Figs. 1, 2, and 3) reaches a size of 5–12 × 1–2 mm and is highly stretchable. The blind ending intestine is bifurcated without lateral branches. The pair of lobulated testes is placed just behind the ventral sucker, and the coiled uterus fills up the posterior half of the body. The hermaphroditic adult worms live in the bile ducts of their hosts (ruminants, humans, dogs, etc.). First intermediate hosts are land snails that belong to the genera Zebrina, Helicella, which ingest eggs containing the infectious miracidium larva (Fig. 1). These snails...

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References

Further Reading

  • Becker B et al (1980) LM and TEM studies on the effect of praziquantel on Schistosoma mansoni, Dicrocoelium dendriticum and Fasciola hepatica. Parasitol Res 63:113–128

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  • Dadak AM et al (2013) Efficacy and safety of oral praziquantel against Dicrocoelium dendriticum in lhamas. Vet Parasitol 197:122–125

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  • Martinez-Ibeas AM et al (2013) Proteomic analysis of the tegument and the excretory-secretory products of Dicroceolium dendriticum. Exp Parasitol 133:411–420

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  • Maurelli MP et al (2007) Characterization of the 28 s and the second internal described spacer of rDNA of Dicrocoelium dendriticum and D. hospes. Parasitol Res 101:1251–1255

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  • Sandoval H et al (2013) A tool for diagnosis of Dicrocoelium dendriticum infection. Parasitol Res 112:1589–1595

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Zoomorphologie, Zellbiologie und Parasitologie, Universitätsstraße 1, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany

    Heinz Mehlhorn

Authors
  1. Heinz Mehlhorn
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Heinz Mehlhorn .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Zoomorphology and Parasitology, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany

    Heinz Mehlhorn

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© 2015 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Mehlhorn, H. (2015). Dicrocoelium dendriticum . In: Mehlhorn, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Parasitology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27769-6_872-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27769-6_872-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27769-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences

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