A genetic structure of novel population of Fascioloides magna from Poland, Podkarpackie Province, indicates an expanding second European natural focus of fascioloidosis.

The veterinary important parasite of ruminants, giant liver fluke Fascioloides magna (Trematoda: Fasciolidae), isolated from liver of farmed fallow deer (Dama dama) from Podkarpackie Province (southeastern Poland) was genotypized by mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase (cox1) and nicotinamide dehydrogenase (nad1) markers. The data on this newly emerged population were compared with mitochondrial haplotypes of recently detected Polish population of F. magna from Lower Silesian Wilderness (southwestern Poland) and with European populations of the parasite from all three natural foci; northern Italy, Czech Republic and the Danube floodplain forests. The flukes from Podkarpackie Province were found to be genetically identical with flukes from Czech Republic and Lower Silesian Wilderness in Poland. It is evident that central and southwestern Czech Republic, recognized as one of the endemic area of F. magna in Europe, has been enlarging and parasite has been invading several novel localities in Poland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]