The livestock rumen fluke, Paramphistomum cervi, is found in
mostly tropical and subtropical regions, including Australia,
Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, and Russia. More specifically,
specimens have been reported in Europe from Bulgaria, Italy,
France, and Poland and also in Asia from Thailand, India, and
China. (Boray, 1959) Adult Paramphistomum cervi live in the
rumens of ruminants (goats, sheep, cattle, and buffaloes) until
the adults lay eggs which are passed through the animals in
their feces. The optimal water temperature for egg development
is 27 degrees C. Miracidia live in the water where the eggs they
hatched from were deposited, and the sporocysts, rediae, and
cercariae all live inside the intermediate snail host. The
cercariae eventually emerge from the snail to encyst on aquatic
herbage in order to be ingested by definite ruminant hosts.
(Olsen, 1986; Rangel-Ruiz, et al., 2003) Paramphistomum cervi
are conical and pink with the ventral side being more concave
than the convex dorsal side. An anter