Bovine Fascioliasis Infection in

Philippines: A Systematic Review

Vivien Anne M. Aquino
BS Biology 4-1
 Introduction
• Liver flukes can affect different body areas such as the blood
vessels, digestive tract, lungs, and liver.

• Humans become infected by consuming raw water plants

contaminated with Fasciola species, while animals (bovine)
become infected by grazing on contaminated grasses.

• Bovines are an important farming partner as they provide on-

farm power in rice fields and help ensure the long-term viability
of agricultural systems.

• Bovines are one of the primary sources of food and milk

product in Philippines.
• Anthelmintic treatment of infected animals and field
application of molluscicides are the techniques used to
reduce fascioliasis however there are rising reports of
anthelmintic resistance (Fissiha & Kinde, 2021).

• In Philippines, studies on geospatial distribution and

epidemiology of Fasciola infection are unknown or few.

• This study review literatures to summarize the distribution,

prevalence, and risk factors of bovine fascioliasis in the
Philippines.
 Objectives
Generally, this study aims to summarize the bovine fascioliasis cases in
the Philippines. Specifically, the purpose of this study is to:

1. Review literatures in order to summarize its distribution in the

Philippines per region from 2011 to 2022

2. Determine the prevalence and risk factor of fascioliasis in the

Philippines
Conceptual Framework
 Methodology
Information Sources and Search Strategy
• Four scientific databases (Science Direct, Google scholar, Plos One and PubMed)
were explored with a search phrases such as animal, bovine, fascioliasis, and
Philippines

Study Selection and Eligibility Criteria

• Merge datasets with records gathered from databases then remove duplicate data
• Papers that focused only on human data and establishment of diagnostic tools were
removed
• Exclusion criteria:
i. studies on fascioliasis in humans or existence of the parasite in the environment
ii. studies published before December 2010
iii. studies reported outside the study area
iv. duplicate data
Data Collection Process, Data Items and Evaluation Study Quality
• The retrieved articles were classified as population survey
• The following variables were gathered:
a. study period (year)
b. location (region)
c. host species
d. number of bovines tested
e. number of positives
f. diagnostic test applied
g. co-infections
h. prevalence = (number of infected/number of tested) x 100
• All data are presented in table
• Created distribution map to show the prevalence in different regions
• Risk factors were discussed in accordance with the data gathered
Results
Table 1. Population survey retrieved in a systematic review on bovine fascioliasis in Philippines
Figure 2. Distribution of bovine fascioliasis based on records retrieved in the systematic
review. Colored areas: presence reported. Non-colored areas: not reported.
Table 2. Risk factors investigated in population screening studies retrieved in a systematic review
on bovine fascioliasis in Philippines per region
 Discussions
• Fasciola infection was strongly associated with buffaloes having moderate and poor
body condition compared to those with good physical condition marks, which was
consistently seen with cattle (El-Tahawy et al., 2018).
• But cattle have a higher prevalence compared with sheep and goat (Kouadio et al.,
2020).
• FEA-SD technique has a sensitivity of 97.62% and it can detect low and high intensity
infections (Gordon et al., 2012; Navarro et al., 2021). Additionally, that it has a sensitivity
of 96.5% and specificity of 14.3% and also used to identify both the intensity and
prevalence of co-infections of Fasciola sp. and Schistosoma sp. (Gordon et al., 2015).
• Co-infection between Fasciola sp., Schistosoma sp., and Paramphistome sp. showed a
4.8% prevalence (Dey et al., 2022).
• DBL technique’s sensitivity in the detection of Fasciola sp. was 85.6% and the specificity
was 100% (Philip et al., 2018). However, it contradicted with other report as it showed
uncertainty or low specificity (4%) (Wu et al., 2010).
• qPCR is one of the most sensitive tests for detecting bovine fasciolosis on farms, although,
it is widely used for laboratory analysis of many other parasitic or infectious diseases
(Olaogun et al., 2022).
• FECT/FEACT is a reliable technique with high sensitivity use for parasitic detection,
however, it is usually employed only for E. coli, Blastocystis sp., and G. lamblia infections
(Cociancic et al., 2018).
• Bovine’s age and irrigation water are the risk factors for having fascioliasis. The infection is
higher in older bovines which are around 3-5 years old (Portugaliza et al., 2019).
• Bovine older than three months were shown to have a higher prevalence of fascioliasis as
they consume on agricultural grasses more frequently, increasing their exposure to
infection (Villanueva et al., 2018).
• A 10.40% increase in the likelihood of Fasciola sp. infection in animals that drinks water
from the irrigation system of rice fields (Portugaliza et al., 2019).
• Exposure of bovine to water sources and the existence of an intermediary snail host are both
risks for Fasciola infection (Jumawan et al., 2020).
• Fasciola sp. metacercaria that the intermediary hosts, freshwater snails, carry contaminate
the rice straw which the bovines consume (Kurnianto et al., 2022).
• Management system is the same for male and female bovine meaning they have
equivalent exposure to contaminated grass, and they are managed and treated equally,
therefore, both of them can be infected (Tulu, 2018).
• Compared to bovines in farms that have never been cleaned, the prevalence of Fasciola
sp. infestation was reduced in the daily-cleaned farms (Ahmad-Najib et al., 2021).
• Climate has affected one research from the retrieved study as Typhoon Haiyan occurred
during that time which caused them to hold their study for 6 months (Jiz et al., 2021).
• the super typhoon Haiyan may have changed the distribution of vectors throughout the
study period, which would have increased the parasitic infection rates (Jiz et al., 2021).
• the prevalence of Fasciola infection is higher during the wet season (17.78%) than the dry
ones (13.33%) (Kurnianto et al., 2022).
• The quantity of study on fascioliasis has been continuously low across the study period
• Study limitation: the researcher might have missed data and certain risk factors for
Fasciola infection were not included due to inadequate data
• This is the first study gathering available information on bovine fascioliasis in Philippines
• Bovine fascioliasis remains a profoundly neglected disease in Philippines
• Aside from the need for more accurately performed screening research findings to
estimate its prevalence in all regions of the country, an in-depth research of local risk
factors is lacking yet paramount to fight fascioliasis in the Philippines
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Thank you!