Research Article Fasciola hepatica in Some Buffaloes and Cattle by PCR and Microscopy Sultan Ayaz, 1 Riaz Ullah, 2 Naser M. AbdEl-Salam, 3 Sumiara Shams, 4 and Sadaf Niaz 4 1 College of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 23200, Pakistan 2 Department of Chemistry, Government College Ara Khel, FR Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 26000, Pakistan 3 Riyadh Community College, King Saud University, Riyadh 11437, Saudi Arabia 4 Department of Zoology, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 23200, Pakistan Correspondence should be addressed to Riaz Ullah; afridiriaz@yahoo.com Received 30 June 2014; Revised 23 October 2014; Accepted 23 October 2014; Published 13 November 2014 Academic Editor: Rafael Toledo Copyright © 2014 Sultan Ayaz et al. his is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Fasciolosis is the burning problem of the livestock rearing community having huge morbidity, mortality, and economic losses to livestock industries in our country Pakistan. he faecal and liver biopsy samplings were examined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and microscopy technique during the entire study. A total of 307 samples including 149 samples from Karak and 158 samples from Kohat abattoirs were examined by PCR method and overall prevalence of fasciolosis was 5.86% (18/307), amongst theses 8.05% (12/149) in liver biopsy and 3.79% (6/158) in feacal samples of cattle and Bufaloes were recorded. Similarly the microscopy based detection was 3.58% (11/307) including 4.61% (7/149) in liver biopsy and 2.5% (4/158) in faecal samples accordingly. Furthermore the areawise prevalence of fasciolosis in abattoirs by PCR method was found to be 7.59% (12/158) in Kohat and 4.02% (6/149) in Karak. A 618 pb DNA was ampliied in 2% agarose gel electrophoreses. It is concluded from the study that prevalence of fasciolosis was higher in abattoir of district Kohat and PCR was a more sensitive method of diagnosis than microscopy. 1. Introduction Fasciolosis in important food born and water born parasitic zoonosis caused by liver luke of the genus Fasciola [1, 2], the F. hepatica, is cosmopolitan in distribution, with high frequency in tropical area [3, 4]. Fasciola spp. may reach the size of 25–30 mm in length and 8 to 15 mm width. It has leaf shaped Structure [5]. Fasciola hepatica has an interior and posterior sucker for attachment to host body [6]. Fasciola hepatica completed its entire life cycle in two host cattle, a deinitive host, and the snail, an intermediate host, while the human is an accidental host [1, 7], which causes disease mostly in ruminants, especially in cattle, bufaloes, sheep, goats, and cow. It may however afect human [8]. hese parasites inhabit the hepatobiliary system of the efected animal and rarely can be found in ectopic sites within the host body [9]. Once the parasites eggs are ingested by the cattle by the occasional drinking or grazing, then the parasites migrate through the liver parenchyma to reach the bile duct. he diagnosis of fasciolosis in ruminant caused by Fasciola spp. has been made solely by the detection of Fasciola eggs in the faeces of infected animal [10]. he worldwide losses in animal productivity due to fasciolosis were estimated as US $200 million per annum to rural agricultural communities and commercial produc- ers with over 600 million animals infected. In developed counties, the incidence of F. hepatica can reach up to 77%. In tropical countries, fasciolosis is considered the single most important helminthes infection of cattle, with reported prevalence of 30–90%. In domestic ruminants, adverse efects of acute or chronic fasciolosis include decreased meat and milk production, decreased fertility, and increased veterinary costs [11–13]. Fasciolosis is one of the big and most important world- wide problems mainly due to mortality of animals, cost of diagnosis, and treatment of condemned liver and it reduces milk and meat production, fertility disorder, and drug resis- tance against fasciolosis [14]. he present research project was designed to carry out the PCR base prevalence of fasciolosis in cattle and bufaloes in abattoir of district Karak and Kohat. Hindawi Publishing Corporation e Scientific World Journal Volume 2014, Article ID 462084, 5 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/462084