Gastrodiscoides

Gastrodiscoides is genus of zoonotic trematode under the class Trematoda. It has only one species, Gastrodiscoides hominis. It is a parasite of a variety of vertebrates, including humans. The first definitive specimen was described from a human subject in 1876. It is prevalent in Bangladesh, India, Burma, China, Kazakhstan, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Volga Delta of Russia, with isolated cases from Africa, such as Nigeria. It is especially notable in the Assam, Bengal, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh states of India.

It is also known as the colonic fluke, particularly when infecting other animals. Its natural habitat is the colon of pigs, and has also been found in rhesus monkeys, orang-utans, fish, field rats and Napu mouse-deer. In humans the habitat is on the wall of the caecum. Humans are considered an accidental host, as the parasite can survive without humans. It causes a helminthic disease called gastrodiscoidiasis.