Review article

Anisakiasis in Europe: emerging, neglected, misdiagnosed, or all of the above?

Ivona Mladineo ; Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries Split, Croatia

Abstract

Supported by the intensified migration and transport of people and foodstuffs, expansion of culinary trends that rely on raw and lightly thermally processed seafood, more sustainable management of aquatic resources, primarily marine mammals in terms of their conservation, and the development of more sensitive diagnostic tools, the rate of fish-borne parasitosis cases has increased worldwide in recent decades. Judging from a recent ranking, anisakiasis is one of the most important zoonoses in Europe from the public health perspective. The infective third-stage larva of the nematode Anisakis spp. is contracted by consumption of insufficiently thermally processed fish and cephalopods, evoking gastric, intestinal, ectopic or (gastro) allergic clinical type of disease in humans. Moreover, based on the widespread anti-Anisakis seroprevalence in the asymptomatic healthy population, a fifth form of the disease has been proposed. In contrast to the ubiquitous nature of the larvae in paratenic hosts (e.g. fish and cephalopods), the epidemiological status in European countries is very diverse, mostly unknown and strongly underestimated. Therefore, this article highlights the most important recent assessments of anisakiasis clinical cases at the EU level, with a short overview of the biological characteristics of this nematode.

Keywords

Anisakis spp; zoonosis; nematode; fish; cephalopods

Hrčak ID:

225778

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/225778

Publication date:

1.10.2019.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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