Opisthorchis viverrini
| Opisthorchis viverrini | |
|---|---|
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| An adult Opisthorchis viverrini showing (from top) oral sucker, pharynx, caecum, ventral sucker, vitellaria, uterus, ovary, Mehlis' gland, testes, exretory bladder. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Platyhelminthes |
| Class: | Trematoda |
| Order: | Opisthorchiida |
| Family: | Opisthorchiidae |
| Genus: | Opisthorchis |
| Species: | O. viverrini |
| Binomial name | |
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Opisthorchis viverrini (Poirier, 1886) Stiles & Hassal, 1896 |
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| Synonyms | |
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Distoma viverrini Poirier, 1886 |
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Distoma viverrini Poirier, 1886
Opisthorchis viverrini, common name Southeast Asian liver fluke, is a food-borne trematode parasite from the family Opisthorchiidae that attacks the area of the bile duct. Infection is acquired when people ingest raw or undercooked fish. Infection with the parasite is called opisthorchiasis. O. viverrini infection also predisposes the infected for cholangiocarcinoma, a cancer of the gall bladder and its ducts.
A small leaf-like fluke, O. viverrini completes its life cycle in three different animals. Snails of the species Bithynia are the first intermediate hosts, fish belonging to the family Cyprinidae are the second intermediate host, while the definitive hosts are humans and other mammals such as dogs, cats, rats, and pigs. It was fist discovered from Indian fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrus) by M.J. Poirier in 1886. The first human case was discovered by Robert Thomson Leiper in 1915.
O. viverrini (together with Clonorchis sinensis and Opisthorchis felineus) is one of the three most medically important species in the family Opisthorchiidae. In fact O. viverrini and C. sinensis are capable of causing cancer in humans, and are classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a group 1 biological carcinogen in 2009.O. viverrini is found in Thailand, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Vietnam and Cambodia. It is most widely distributed in Northern Thailand, with high prevalence in humans, while in Central Thailand there is low rate of prevalence.
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