Journal of Phylogenetics & Evolutionary Biology

Balancing Biomedical and Ecological Views in the Study of Liver Fluke

Abstract

Sargam Thapa* and Manish Purohit

Opisthorchis viverrini, Clonorchis sinensis, and Opisthorchis felineus are considered to be of significant global public health importance, with an estimated 700 million people at risk of infection and 10, 35, and 1.6 million infected, respectively, in their contiguous geographic ranges spanning Central to East and Southeast Asia. In the literature, O. viverrini (Ov) is portrayed as causing hepatobiliary illness, sometimes referred to clinically as 'Opisthochiasis,' particularly cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), presuming a causative chain including raw fish eating, followed by infection with this liver fluke, leading to cancer.