An Overview of Fasciolosis in Human and Cattle Populations in New Valley, Egypt Authors and affiliations

Salwa Mahmoud Abd-Elrahman^1*Abeer A. Khedr²Sara Salah Abdel-Hakeem³Wafaa G. Mahmoud²Mervat M. Khalifa⁴Sally Salah Abdel-Hakeem⁵Ahmed Al-Hakami⁶Mohammed Tolba⁶

• ¹Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Assiut University, Asyut, Asyut, Egypt
• ²Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, The New Valley University, Al-Kharga, Al Wadi Al Jadid, Egypt
• ³Department of Zoology and Entomology, Faculty of Science, Assiut University, Asyut, Asyut, Egypt
• ⁴Department of Medical Parasitology Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University,, Asyut,, Egypt
• ⁵Department of Pathology, South Egypt Cancer Institute, Assiut University, Asyut, Egypt
• ⁶Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, College of Medicine, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia

Fascioliasis, a significant global zoonotic disease caused by trematode parasites of the genus Fasciola, affects various livestock species. This study aimed to identify demographic, epidemiological, clinical manifestations, pathological, and genetic characteristics in New Valley, Egypt's human and cattle populations. This study is made of two parts, the first part is a cohort study of 1000 cattle slaughtered at three abattoirs in El Kharja, El Dakhilah, and El Farafra from February 2023 to January 2024. A retrospective analysis of patients visiting El Kharja hospital with clinical symptoms and confirmed with coprological and radiological examinations. The study revealed a high prevalence in cattle (23%) and humans (3.6%). Enrolled human fascioliasis was diagnosed in 58.3% and 41.7% by coprological and radiological analysis, respectively. A 66.7% of enrolled cases were females, with a median age range of 37 ± 13 years old. Treatment outcomes demonstrated a response of 25%, 50%, and 25% to single, two, and three doses of the treatment, respectively. In cattle, infection rate was 20.0% in females compared to 24.9% in males with low prevalence in animals <1 year (12.7%) and high in animals >3 years (30.4%). Autumn had the highest prevalence (28.7%), whereas summer had the lowest prevalence (18.0%). A significant difference in the prevalence of fasciolasis was observed between human and animals.Morphological and histopathological analysis elucidated acute and chronic manifestations of hepatic fascioliasis with ectopic migration to cattle lung tissue. Genetic characterization of ectopic worm confirmed Fasciola hepatica infection, with genetic similarity to human isolates from Iran.The study highlights the importance of one health approach in understanding and managing fascioliasis.