Molecular Prevalence of Larval Stages of in Species Snails in the Vicinity of the Ağrı Province.

Objective: known as the great pond snail, is one of the intermediate hosts of , a zoonotic parasite. In this study, it was aimed to determine the larval forms of by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in species snails collected from the vicinity of Ağrı province.

Methods: In this study, 150 snails were collected from the Ağrı province. The freshwater snails brought to the laboratory were dissected, then their soft tissues were examined under a microscope. DNA extraction was performed on the dissected snails. After DNA extraction, PCR was performed using primers targeting the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 gene region.

Results: In the microscopic examination, larval forms of could not be detected. However, it was concluded that two (1.3%) freshwater snails were infected with the larval forms of in the PCR.

Conclusion: It was determined that served as an intermediate host to in the study area.