Pathogenicity of immature Fascioloides magna in white-tailed deer

Abstract

The pathogenesis of early prepatent Fascioloides magna infection was investigated in seven fawns (Odocoileus virginianus) given 500 metacercariae and examined at one, two, three, five, eight, 12 and 13 weeks postinoculation. Blood samples were taken from eight inoculated deer every two weeks up to 16 weeks postinoculation. Eosinophilia with a mild transitory anemia were the main clincopathological features. Postmortem examination at two weeks postinoculation revealed extensive migration of immature flukes. Subcapsular tracks in the liver, nodules on the blind sacs of the rumen, as well as retroperitoneal granulomas on flanks and necrotic tracks on the diaphragm were found. Evidence of penetration of flukes into the lung was found at two weeks postinoculation and there was early granuloma formation at three weeks postinoculation. Flukes migrating into tissues other than the liver were destroyed in large granulomas, although remnants of degenerating parasites were not found. At eight weeks postinoculation, widespread granuloma formation characterized the infection with this lesion present in nodes along the gastrointestinal tract, in the mesentery, flanks, psoas muscles, diaphragm, between the ribs and in the lungs. By 12 weeks postinoculation subcapsular tracks were observed in the liver.