The worldwide occurring common liver fluke Fasciola hepatica can infect humans and animals and leads to considerable illness and economic loss annually. The aim of this study was to determine the genetic diversity of F. hepatica in Austria. In total, 31 adult flukes isolated from cattle from various regions in Austria were investigated for their cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) and nicotinamide dehydrogenase subunit 1 (nad1) gene sequences. It was shown that Austrian isolates of F. hepatica reveal extensive genetic diversity. To the best of our knowledge, these are the first data on the diversity of F. hepatica in Austria.
Keywords: Austria; Digenea; Fasciola hepatica; Genetic diversity; Haplotype; Mitochondrial DNA; Trematoda.