ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Parasitology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1673629
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvances in Wildlife Parasitology and Host-Pathogen DynamicsView all 4 articles
First report of the giant liver fluke (Fascioloides magna) in Slovenia and molecular species confirmation based on the ITS2 marker
Provisionally accepted
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
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The giant liver fluke, Fascioloides magna, is a parasite that primarily infects wild and domestic ruminants. Originally from North America, it has been an invasive species in Europe since the 19th century. Of the three natural foci that have become established in Europe, the Danube floodplain forest is the one that is still expanding. The first outbreak of fascioloidosis in Slovenia described in this report indicates that red deer (Cervus elaphus), fallow deer (Dama dama) and roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) are the three wild ruminant species affected by the parasite. The examination of liver samples from 14 red deer, five fallow deer and three roe deer confirmed the presence of F. magna. Most of the affected livers were characterised by excessive haemorrhages, multiple migration paths and distinct black pigmented lines within the parenchyma, marked enlargement and the development of pseudocysts; roe deer livers contained no pseudocysts. Molecular species confirmation of the extracted parasites was performed using species-specific PCR and Sanger sequencing techniques. Hunters, veterinarians and farmers should be made aware of the existence of F. magna in north-east Slovenia and encouraged to report any liver abnormalities in ruminants. Future research should aim to investigate the spread of F. magna, its origins and its economic impact.
Keywords: giant liver fluke (Fascioloides magna), Red deer (cervus elaphus), fallow deer (Dama dama), Roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), PCR, Sanger sequencing
Received: 26 Jul 2025; Accepted: 16 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Žele Vengušt, Kušar, Vengušt and Bandelj. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Diana Žele Vengušt, diana.zelevengust@vf.uni-lj.si
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