Inventory of wild rodents and lagomorphs as natural hosts of Fasciola hepatica on a farm located in a humid area in Loire Atlantique (France)

With the objective of studying the role of wild fauna in the epidemiology o f fasciolosis disease, a definitive wild-host inventory was carried out in a french form where infected domestic hosts (cows) cohabit with wild potent ial ones, liver flukes, faecal eggs and antibodies were looked for in lagom orphs (Oryctologus cuniculus) and rodents (Myocastor coypus, Ondotra zybeth icus, Rattus norvegicus, Arvicola sapidus and micromammal species) trapped in the study area. Presence of Fasciola hepatica was detected in two specie s: O. cuniculus and M. coypus. infection rates were respectively 34 % (42/1 24) and 55 % (106/193), liver flukes were found in 78 M. coypus (n = 192) a nd 11 O. cuniculus (n = 35). No other species was infected by F. hepatica. The number of animals shedding fluke eggs was higher in M. coypus (49 out o f 127 sampled; 38.6 %) than in O. cuniculus (two out of 17 sampled; 11.7 %) . The results indicate that M. coypus may ploy a role in the maintenance an d the dissemination of F. hepatica in various environments and open a discu ssion on the role of other natural wild hosts.