ABSTRACT
These infections do not cause disease in man to the same extent as the schistosomes. The most important in Africa seems to be paragonimiasis; heterophyiasis is even more localised, and human fascioliasis is rarely reported. Two of the other infections included here, echinostomiasis and angiostrongyliasis, are not known from man in Africa, but there appears to be potential for human infection to occur in this continent. For livestock the most serious infections are paramphistomiasis and fascioliasis. None of these parasites is dependent on man as a host; the life cycles where man does play some part are examples of zoonoses (Malek, 1980; Ukoli, 1984; Geerts et al., 1987). A summary follows of the systematic positions of the parasites, the infections caused and the definitive hosts.
