[Spurious infections by the small liver fluke (Dicrocoelium dendriticum) in Switzerland 1976-1980].

The lancet fluke is a common parasite in Swiss sheep and cattle. From 1976 to 1980, 77 patients were found to have eggs of D. dendriticum in the stool. No genuine human infection could be diagnosed, and in all patients the coprologic finding of D. dendriticum eggs had to be considered the result of spurious infections due to the consumption of infected livers. The annual incidence of stool specimens positive for D. dendriticum eggs was between 0.20 and 0.38%.