Fascioliasis is a parasitic infection caused by Fasciola spp., primarily affecting ruminant animals. These digenean flatworms cause severe liver damage in their hosts, resulting in substantial economic losses within the livestock industry. Human fascioliasis is an emerging public health concern, with an estimated global prevalence of 2.6 million cases. Infection in humans typically occurs through the ingestion of aquatic vegetation or water contaminated with metacercariae. Triclabendazole (TCBZ) remains the only drug recommended by WHO for the treatment of human fascioliasis and is widely used in livestock. However, the increasing prevalence of TCBZ resistance in livestock, along with reports of TCBZ-resistant human infections, poses a growing challenge to disease control. Although it has been suggested that resistant livestock infections may contribute to the emergence of resistance in ...

Fasciola hepatica has a complex lifecycle with multiple intermediate and definitive hosts and influenced by environmental factors. The disease causes significant morbidity in children and its prevalent worldwide. There is lack of data about distribution and burden of the disease in endemic regions, owing to poor efficacy of the different diagnostic methods used. A novel PCR-based test was developed by using a portable mini-PCR® platform to detect Fasciola sp. DNA and interpret the results via a fluorescence viewer and smartphone image analyzer application. Human stool, snail tissue, and water samples were used to extract DNA. Primers targeting the ITS-1 of the 18S rDNA gene of Fasciola sp. were used. The limit of detection of the mini-PCR test was 1 fg/μL for DNA samples diluted in water, 10 fg/μL for Fasciola/snail DNA scramble, and 100 fg/μL for Fasciola/stool DNA scramble. The pro...