Question

The disease caused by Fasciola is

• A. Liver rot
• B. Cysticercosis
• C. Taeniasis
• D. None of the above

Answer 1

The correct option is A Liver rot

Fascioliasis is the infection of humans and grass grazing animals which is caused by the liver fluke Fasciola hepatica. It is a small parasitic flatworm that lives in the bile ducts and causes a condition known as liver rot. F. hepatica grows in the liver of various animals, especially cattle and sheep. The eggs pass through the bile duct and are excreted in the faeces. If the eggs get into pools of water, they hatch after a few weeks and the larvae must find their way into a small water snail. In two months, they multiply and emerge as free-swimming larvae. These finally attach themselves as cysts to grass or leaves of plants growing in the water. The cysts resist drying when the water recedes and if they are later swallowed with the grass or plants, they hatch in the host’s intestine, migrate across the abdominal cavity, pierce the liver, and settle in the bile ducts, where they cause obstruction to the flow of bile and inflammation in surrounding liver tissue.