Heterophyes nocens explained

Heterophyes nocens is a species of trematodes, or fluke worms, in the family Heterophyidae.

Distribution

This species occurs in:

• southwestern Korea in coastal regions
• Kōchi Prefecture, Chiba Prefecture, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Chūgoku region, Hiroshima Prefecture, and Shizuoka Prefecture in Japan
• China.^[1]

Life cycle

The first intermediate hosts of Heterophyes nocens include brackish water snail Cerithideopsilla cingulata.^[1]

The second intermediate host include freshwater fish: Mugil cephalus, and Acanthogobius flavimanus.^[1]

Natural definitive hosts are fish-eating mammals: cats, dogs and rats.^[2] It can infect humans when eating raw fish.

Notes and References

1. Chai J. Y., Darwin Murrell K. & Lymbery A. J. (2005). "Fish-borne parasitic zoonoses: Status and issues". International Journal for Parasitology 35(11-12): 1233-1254. .
2. Jong-Yil Chai, Bong-Kwang Jung: Fishborne zoonotic heterophyid infections: An update. In: Food and Waterborne Parasitology. Volume 8–9, 2017, pp. 33–63.