Prevalence of Haplorchis taichui in field-collected snails: A molecular approach

• Main Authors: Thapana Chontananarth, Chalobol Wongsawad
• Format: Journal
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: Immunology and Microbiology; Medicine
• Online Access: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=78650968170&origin=inward; http://cmuir.cmu.ac.th/jspui/handle/6653943832/50909
• Institution: Chiang Mai University

The prevalence of the cercarial stage of an intestinal trematode, Haplorchis taichui, in thiarid snails (Gastropoda: Thiaridae) was investigated using light microscope and species-specific PCR procedures. A total of 988 snails were collected from Mae Taeng district, Chiang Mai province, northern Thailand, which comprised of 3 species; Melanoides tuberculata, Tarebia granifera, and Thiara scabra. The overall prevalence of pleurolophocercous cercariae was 21.7% as determined by the morphology. For genetic detection of H. taichui infection in snails, 2 primers Hapt_F (5′-GGCCAACGCAATCGTCATCC- 3′) and Hapt_R (5′-GCGTCGGGTTTCAGACATGG-3′), were used. The genomic DNA of H. taichui, which was used as a positive control, gave an amplification of the 256 bp fragment. The overall prevalence of H. taichui from specific PCR was 9.7%. The proportion of H. taichui among the pleurolophocercous cercariae in this study was 44.9%. © 2010, Korean Society for Parasitology.