EVALUATION OF FASCIOLA SPP INFECTION IN CATTLE AND SHEEP IN MOSUL CITY

This study was conducted for the purpose of evaluating infection with the parasite Fasciola spp in the city of Mosul for the period from June 2020 to June 2022. The results showed that a total of 12.30% of cattle and sheep had Fasciola eggs in their feces, with a significant difference between cattle and sheep, and the infection was high in cattle 16%. The eggs of the Fasciola species are oval, brown to yellow in color, and have an operculum. There was no significant difference in the rate of infection with the Fasciola parasite and the sex of cattle and sheep. Regarding the relationship between the rate of infection and the age of the animals infected, there were no significant differences between the infection and the age groups of the examined sheep. Whereas there was a significant difference between the cattle whose age was less than one year, one to two years old and more than two years old. The results of the serological examination of 90 blood samples of cattle and sheep showed that the seroprevalence of Fasciola in both cattle and sheep was 22.22% and 8.88%, respectively, with no difference in the incidence of infection between all the examined cattle and sheep.


INTRODUCTION
Cattle and sheep are regarded as the most important types of livestock for human meat consumption. Numerous diseases, such as Fasciola, are exposed to these animals (Mostafa et al., 2021, Almashhadaeny, 2021, Ismael and Omer, 2021, Suleiman et al., 2022.
One of the most significant digenetic trematodes is the Fasciola genus or liver fluke, which causes the extremely harmful condition known as fasciolosis or fascioliasis.
Fasciola comes in two species, F.hepatica and F.gigantica (Santans et al., 2013). Fasciola blocks the bile ducts of its victims, causing serious liver damage and eventual death (Legesse et al., 2007). Domesticated and wild animals can be infected with Fasciola species, although cattle, sheep, and even humans are particularly vulnerable (Amer et al., 2016, Belete, 2017. In order for Fasciola to complete its life cycle, species of snails from the Lymnaeidae family, which inhabit marshy and standing water environments, must serve as intermediate hosts. Fasciola eggs shed with feces, hatch in water, and produce an infectious stage (metacercaria) that is attached to a plant host. Once animals consume the metacercaria, juvenile flukes migrate from the liver to the bile ducts, where adult stages emerge and begin to lay eggs after an eight to ten week prepatent period (Caron et al., 2014).
Due to the migration into the liver, the damage and acute phase of fascioliasis are more common in sheep than in cattle during the biliary phase (Amer et al., 2016, Legesse et al., 2007. Clinical signs and fecal examination using the sedimentation method, which is easy and confirmatory, were previously used to make the diagnosis of Fasciola. However, both methods are ineffective when adult parasite burden is low and they cannot detect the infection during the pre-patent stage. Recently, a number of serological assays have been created to identify circulating antibodies against a fluke excretory-secretory antigen produced during the early stages of infections and used to diagnose infections early (Munita et al., 2019, Acici et al., 2017, Salami et al., 2005, Nossair et al., 2014, Yamchi, 2005 By identifying the eggs in the feces and also identifying seropositive animals for the infection, this study sought to ascertain the morbidity rate of Fasciola in cattle and sheep in the Nineveh governorate.

Collection of samples
In the Nineveh governorate, 650 fecal samples (250 from cattle and 400 from sheep) and 90 blood samples (45 from cattle and 45 from sheep) were gathered through numerous field trips to numerous herds of cattle and sheep, as well as from the cases of death from liver fluke infections were recorded and delivered from private clinics and from the teaching hospital of the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Mosul. The data of each sample, including sex and age, were recorded between June 2020 and June 2022.

Laboratory examination 1-Fecal sample collection
Animals' rectums were directly sampled for feces using disposable plastic gloves. Once the glove was labeled and brought to the parasitology lab, it was processed and inspected using the sedimentation technique to determine whether Fasciola eggs were present (Brown et al., 2019).

2-Blood sample collection
To check for antibodies against the Fasciola genus, 5 ml of blood from some sheep and cattle was aseptically collected in sterile tubes. Serum was then collected, labeled, and stored in a deep freezer before being tested using an indirect ELISA test utilizing a Diagnostic /Automtic/ Cortez. Diagnostic /Inc/ USA kit.

Statistical analysis
Chi-square was used, at a significance level of P ≤ 0.05.

RESULTS
The current study recorded the overall percentage of Fasciola infection in 650 fecal samples (250 from cattle and 400 from sheep), which was 12.30%. There were discernible changes between sheep and cattle, with the infection rate with Fasciola eggs in cattle and sheep being 16% and 10%, respectively (Table 1).  There were no differences (P> 0.05) found between any sheep age groups examined. However, there was a significant difference (P < 0.05) in the infection between cattle aged less than one year, 1-2 years and more than two years. The highest infection appeared in sheep aged more than two years 12.5% and in cattle aged less than one year 31.25%. Whereas, the lowest infection appeared in sheep aged 1-2 years was 6.66 and in cattle aged more than 2 years 8% (Table 3) The eggs of the Fasciola species are oval, brown to yellow in color, and have an operculum ( Figure 1).  Numerous investigations were undertaken in Iraq to find Fasciola infections in sheep, goats, cattle, and buffaloes. The percentages of infection ranged from 0.17 to 34%. (Mahdi andAl-Baldawi, 1987, Kadir andRasheed, 2008), the number of samples analyzed, the climatic circumstances in each region, the degree of exposure to the intermediate host, and the manner of management and treatment are just a few variables that contribute to the contrast in the incidence of Fasciola spp. infection.
In our work, a significant difference in the incidence of infection between sheep and cattle was found, which is consistent with (Khademvatan et al., 2019, Khan et al., 2010. The infection was higher in cattle, which may be because the chronic form of the disease affects cattle more frequently (Khan et al., 2010). Unlikely, Khademvatan et al., (2019) reported that the incidence of the disease appeared high in sheep because their grazing habits are primarily focused on herb where metacercaria are present.
Although male cattle had a higher infection rate 17.27% than female cattle 15% and male and female sheep had the same infection rate 10% in this study, the difference of fascioliasis relative to the sex of cattle and sheep was not significant (P > 0.05). This is consistent with the reports of other studies (Kipyegen et al., 2022;Piri et al., 2018). According to Tilaham et al. (2014), domestic animals' male and female sexes were both exposed to the same risk factors for infection, such as contaminated grass.
There were no differences (P > 0.05) in age groups of sheep examined, but there was a difference between cattle less than a year old, cattle aged 1-2 years old, and cattle older than 2 years. This relevance between the infection with Fasciola eggs and age of animals was also not found Kipyegen et al. (2022) revealed that the infection was higher in animals under one year old 62.7% and lower in those between one and four years 23.2%. The infection in the animals under one year old was more than those above five years old. Piri et al., (2018) (2017) reported an overall percentage of ovine fascioliasis of 31.4% using ELISA. They suggested that diagnoses of fascioliasis can be done using a serodiagnostic assay, which depends on Excreation/Secreation antigens of Fasciola and ELISA as a screening and confirmation technique, and this test is enough in serological and epidemiological studies. Molloy et al., (2015) demonstrated that the capability to early detect and treat fascioliasis is a high advantage of the ELISA, which will minimize liver damage in infected cattle and sheep, by immature flukes as they wander in the liver, and prevent the shedding of Fasciola eggs in feces. This contributes to effective hygiene and care by lowering the percentage of the disease.

CONCLUSION
Fasciolosis is an important parasitic disease that must be diagnosed and treated early to avoid contamination of the pasture with the eggs of the Fasciola species.