Fasciola hepatica: the developmental patterns of redial generations in naturally infected Galba truncatula

A retrospective study on 1,211 snails naturally infected with Fasciola hepatica in central France was carried out to determine the numbers of full-grown sporocysts from which infections derived, to specify the developmental patterns of redial generations (normal or abnormal) and to count live and free rediae. In the department of Haute Vienne (siliceous subsoils), most snails showed single-sporocyst infections, with normal (46.3%) or abnormal (33.9%) development of redial generations. Two-sporocyst infections were scarcer (a total of 10.6%), while snail co-infections with F. hepatica and Paramphistomum daubneyi (8.0%) were found since 1996. In the department of Indre (calcareous subsoils), single-sporocyst infections showing normal development of rediae were the most numerous (58.0%), while the frequency of single-sporocyst infections with abnormal development was strongly decreased (4.3%). Two-sporocyst infections (with normal development of generations) and co-infections with F. hepatica and P. daubneyi slightly increased in frequency. The redial burdens found in snails collected from the department of Indre were significantly higher than those noted in snails originating from the department of Haute Vienne, whatever the type of snail infection; and these increases in numbers especially concerned the rediae of the second and subsequent generations. The results might be explained by the lower calcium ion content (7-23 mg/l) present in waters from the department of Haute Vienne which would induce a slower growth of infected snails (the shell height of adults scarcely reached 8 mm) and, consequently, would create barely favourable conditions for the development of the first rediae of the first generation within snails. However, the quality of the diet provided as food for snails and its influence on the development of redial generations cannot be excluded.