First report on the occurrence of <i>Microphallus indicus</i> in the <i>Sartoriana spinigera</i> freshwater crab in Bangladesh

Sartoriana spinigera is an edible freshwater crab species that plays an important role as an intermediate host of Microphallus indicus and Paragonimus westermani. P. westermani, the lung fluke, has been reported from northeastern India bordering Bangladesh and other parts of India. Nonetheless the existence of P. westermani in Bangladesh is yet to investigate. Therefore, the objective of the study was to estimate the prevalence of lung flukes in Bangladesh. During the survey, the metacercariae of food-borne trematodes were investigated from a total of 261 fresh-water crabs collected from different locations in Bangladesh. Only the metacercariae of M. indicus were recovered. The overall prevalence of M. indicus metacercariae was 26% with intensity of 1–63 per crab. The highest prevalence was recorded from Naogaon district (83.33%), followed by Sirajgonj (57.5%), Rajshahi (40%), Brahmanbaria (16%), Narsingdi (15%), Faridpur (10%), and Sunamgonj (7%). None of the crabs from Rangpur, Thakurgoan, Jashore, Meherpur, Magura, Barguna, Sylhet, Kishorgonj, Cox’sBazar, and Bandarban were infected. Among the water bodies, the highest number of infected crabs was found in the rivers (56%) followed by haor, canal, and ditches (5%). To the best of our knowledge, this study reports M. indicus for the first time from Bangladesh.