Dr. Murai Éva - Gubányi András szerk.: Parasitologia Hungarica 27. (Budapest, 1994)

Appearance of the large American liver fluke Fascioloides magna (Bassi, 1875) (Trematoda: Fasciolata) in Hungary Gábor MAJOROS and Vladov SZTOJKOV Central Veterinary institute, Tábornok u. 2, H-l 149 Budapest, Hungary (Received 22 October, 1994) Abstract: Fascioloides magna, the large American liver fluke of cervids was found in the northwestern corner of Hungary for the first time. At necropsy, the liver of a red deer (Cervus elaphus) was found to contain 10 almost adult flukes. Faecal examination revealed F. magna eggs in 11 out of 15 droppings randomly collected in the natural habitat. The hunters assume that almost every red deer living in the area in question carries this fluke. The infected deer population lives freely in an area near the River Danube, where the parasite's European intermediate host, the dwarf pond snail (Lymnaea truncatula) is very common along the branches of the river. The risk of spread of this parasite via snails and through trade in cervids is emphasized. Key words: Fascioloides magna, red deer, first occurrence, Hungary, pathology, epizootiology INTRODUCTION The discovery of the large American liver fluke (Fascioloides magna) well illustrated the easy spread of endoparasites. This New World flatworm was first described by Bassi from an outbreak among cervids of the royal game reserve near Turin in 1875, well before its discovery in America (Malek 1980). Already the author of the first description concluded that this fluke must have been introduced into the game reserve by American wapitis; however, the general prevalence of the pathogen in North America was demonstrated only later. The potential definitive hosts of that liver fluke are cervids of the Northern hemisphere (elk, red deer, wapiti, white-tailed and black-tailed deer, fallow deer, roe-deer, Sika deer, sambar deer, reindeer, etc.), all of which may shed this fluke's eggs capable of embryonation (Soulsby 1965). However, only the American deer species are natural carriers of this helminth; its ability to infect European cervids is known only from accidental or experimental cases following its introduction (Erhardová-Kotrlá and Blazek 1970, Erhardová-Kotrlá 1971). Accord-