A survey on prevalence and morphometric and molecular characterization of Dicrocoelium dendriticum in ruminants slaughtered in Eslamabad-e Gharb slaughterhouse

The aim of current study was to investigate the prevalence as well as morphometric and molecular characterization of Dicrocoelium dendriticum in cattle, sheep and goat slaughtered in Eslamabad-e Gharb (Kermanshah) industrial abattoir from 1394 to 1396. To determine the prevalence and severity of D. dendriticum, 2160 cattle, 4320 sheep and 3240 goats were randomly sampled from the both genders equally during the course of study. Morphologic and morphometric characterization done using a light microscope. For molecular characterization, 20 adult worms with different morphologic and morphometric properties from each species and total of 60 samples were selected for extraction of DNA and amplification of the target gene NAD1 using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The obtained results indicated that the infection rate was higher in sheep (10.20%, 4.85% and 7.01%, respectively) compared to cattle (3.05%, 1.80% and 2.22%). Furthermore, the highest infection intensity was observed in autumn. Pairwise comparison of the obtained sequences with each other and the recorded cases in Genbank revealed the similarity 97% to 99% among isolates. Therefore, D. dendriticum was the only infective species of Eslamabad-e Gharb ruminants. The results of genetic evaluation showed no variation between the isolated samples and those in GenBank. Considering the high prevalence rate of infection, stricter preventive and hygienic measures should be taken.