Potential Transmission of Human Fascioliasis Through Traditional Local Foods, in Northern Iran

Ingestion of infective metacercariae, attached to watercress or othe r variou s species of water and terrestrial plants, has beenimplicated as the main source of human contamination by fasciolid fluke s. presence of several species of aromatic wildgrown plants, which are eaten fresh on the table or used for preparation of some plant-made foods (detar, mixture of saltand ground local plants, as a paste and zeitoon-parvardeh , olives in walnut sauce, as an appeti zer) have been suggested toplay a role in human contamination in the endemic zone of fasciol iasis, in gilan province, northern iran. the aim of thepre sent study was to evaluate the impact of ingredients using for preparation of these local foods on viability and infectivityof liver fluke meta cercariae. metacercariae for this study were obtained by experimental infections of lymnaea gedrosiana,collected from bandar anzali endemic zone. the viability and infec tivity of metacercariae kept in zeitoon-parvardeh anddelar was checked by microscopical analyses and animal infection assays. the results indicate the possibility of humancontamination following consumption of these traditional food s when prepared with fresh vegetables presenting attachedmetac ercariae.