First Egyptian record of the eye fluke (Philophthalamus palpebrarum) transmitted by Melanoides tuberculata snail and its experimental life cycle

Abstract

The present study has been recorded, for the first time, cercariae of Philophthalamus palpebrarum (Trematoda: Philophthalmidae occurring in the birds-eye) emerged from naturally infected Melanoides tuberculata snails collected from Giza Governorate, Egypt, and succeeded to complete its life cycle experimentally. The adult worm was extracted from the conjunctival sac of the chicken eyes after 35-40 days post experimental infection by pipetting 10-15 excysted metacercariae into each eye orbit of (1-3 days old chicks). The worms were identified as Philophthalamus palpebrarum based on the morphological characteristics and the comparison with the previous descriptions in the literature. They were small, the body length, 5.48 mm (4.6 - 6.1) and its width 1.60 mm (1.32 - 1.9) and the surface of the body is smooth and lacks spination. The morphological characteristics of the developmental stages, from cercariae to adults, of this eye fluke, were described. It can be concluded that this eye fluke was described as Philophathalamus palpebrarum and the Melanoides tuberculata snails emphasized as its intermediate host in natural and experimental infection for the first time in Egypt. From this study, it is recommended to pay more attention to this parasite as a zoonotic disease to avoid the risk factor of this parasite to humans.