Opisthorchis felineus

O·pis·thor·chis fe·li·n'e·us

the cat liver fluke, a species frequently found as a human parasite in Eastern Europe, Siberia, India, Japan, and Southeast Asia; adults are shaped like lancets, thin, relatively transparent, and hermaphroditic, with sizes ranging from 7-12 by 2-3 mm; ingested eggs hatch in Bithynia snails, and cercariae encyst on various species of freshwater fish; humans acquire the infection by ingesting raw or inadequately cooked fish; the parasites sometimes cause no evidence of disease, but cholangitis, biliary cirrhosis, and chronic pancreatitis may occur.

Opisthorchis

(o?pis-thor'kis) [? + orchis, testicle]

A genus of liver flukes endemic to Asia.

Opisthorchis felineus

See: Opisthorchis tenuicollis

Opisthorchis sinensis

A species common throughout Asia, acquired by humans who eat poorly cooked fish that contains the larval forms. O. sinensis is a relatively uncommon cause of biliary obstruction in Western nations.

Opisthorchis tenuicollis

A species found in cats and other mammals. Humans become infected by eating raw or poorly cooked fish containing the larval forms. It was formerly called O. felineus.

Opisthorchis

a genus of flukes (digenetic trematodes) parasitic in the liver and biliary tract of various reptiles, birds and mammals, including humans. Causes opisthorchiasis.

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Opisthorchis felineus

see Opisthorchis tenuicollis (below).

Opisthorchis sinensis

see clonorchissinensis.

Opisthorchis tenuicollis

found in the bile ducts, rarely the pancreatic duct and intestine, of dogs, cats, foxes, pigs and the Cetacea and humans.

Opisthorchis viverrini

occurs in domestic and wild cats, civets, dogs and humans.