• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.57 no.6
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• pp.699-704
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• 2019

Anisakiasis (anisakidosis) refers to a foodborne zoonosis caused by ingesting raw or undercooked marine fish or cephalopods infected with anisakid larvae. The present study was performed to investigate the prevalence of anisakid larvae in anchovies (Engraulis japonica) purchased from 2 local markets in Gyeongsangnam-do, the Republic of Korea (=Korea), during 2018-2019. Anchovies were transported to our laboratory and examined by pepsin-HCl artificial digestion technique followed by microscopic observations and molecular analyses. The overall prevalence of anisakid larvae was 19.5% (39/200), from which a total of 51 larvae (av. 1.3 larvae/infected anchovy) were recovered. Sequencing of the larvae targeting the ITS region, including ITS1, 5.8S rRNA, and ITS2 genes confirmed the species of larvae as Anisakis pegreffii (54.9%; 28/51), Hysterothylacium sinense (23.5%; 12/51), and Hysterothylacium aduncum (21.5%; 11/51). The results suggested that anchovies could be a potential source of human anisakiasis in Korea.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.207-211
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• 2019

Anisakiasis is a zoonotic disease induced by anisakid nematodes, and endoscopic inspection is used for a diagnosis or remedy for it. Anisakis simplex, Anisakis physeteris, and Pseudoterranova decipiens had been reported to be the major species causing human infections, particularly, in Japan. However, in Korea, recent studies strongly suggested that Anisakis pegreffii is the major species of human infections. To support this suggestion, we collected anisakid larvae (n=20) from 20 human patients who were undergone gastrointestinal endoscopy at a health check-up center in Korea, and molecular identification was performed on the larvae using PCR-RFLP analysis and gene sequencing of rDNA ITS regions and mtDNA cox2. In addition, anisakid larvae (n=53) collected from the sea eel (Astroconger myriaster) were also examined for comparison with those extracted from humans. The results showed that all human samples (100%) were identified as A. pegreffii, whereas 90.7% of the samples from the sea eel were A. pegreffii with the remaining 9.3% being Hysterothylacium aduncum. Our study confirmed that A. pegreffii is the predominant species causing human anisakiasis in Korea, and this seems to be due to the predominance of this larval type in the fish (sea eels) popularly consumed by the Korean people. The possibility of human infection with H. aduncum in Korea is also suggested.

• Journal of fish pathology
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.189-197
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• 2012

A survey was conducted to investigate infection of anisakid nematode larvae in 243 wild marine fishes caught from the southern coastal area of Korea between 2010 and 2012. The samples comprised fishes from 9 orders, 30 families and 50 species. Total infection rate of anisakid nematode larvae was 10.7% (26/243 fish), which comprised from Yeosu, 7.4% (7/95) in 2010 and 22.7% (5/22) in 2011; from Jeju, 8.2% (5/61) in 2011; from Wando, 40.9% (9/22) in 2012. Anisakid nematode larvae were not detected in Tongyoung and Wando samples in 2011. Molecular identification of the 89 worms from 26 fish was conducted by PCR-RFLP and/or sequence analysis of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of ribosomal DNA. From the results, 6 kinds of anisakis species were identified: Anisakis pegreffii (infection rate: 53.9%, 48/89 worms), Hysterothylacium aduncum (38.2%, 34/89), H. fabri (3.4%, 3/89), hybird (A. simplex X A. pegreffii) (2.4%, 2/89), A. simplex (1.1%, 1/89) and Raphidascaris lophii (1.1%, 1/89). The rate of single infection was 80.8% (21/26 infected fish), while 19.2% (5/26) showed mixed infection with 2 to 3 different anisakis species.