1. Public health risks associated with food‐borne parasites
- Author
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EFSA Panel on Biological Hazards (BIOHAZ), Kostas Koutsoumanis, Ana Allende, Avelino Alvarez‐Ordóñez, Declan Bolton, Sara Bover‐Cid, Marianne Chemaly, Robert Davies, Alessandra De Cesare, Lieve Herman, Friederike Hilbert, Roland Lindqvist, Maarten Nauta, Luisa Peixe, Giuseppe Ru, Marion Simmons, Panagiotis Skandamis, Elisabetta Suffredini, Simone Cacciò, Rachel Chalmers, Peter Deplazes, Brecht Devleesschauwer, Elisabeth Innes, Thomas Romig, Joke van der Giessen, Michaela Hempen, Yves Van der Stede, Lucy Robertson, Koutsoumanis K., Allende A., Alvarez-Ordonez A., Bolton D., Bover-Cid S., Chemaly M., Davies R., De Cesare A., Herman L., Hilbert F., Lindqvist R., Nauta M., Peixe L., Ru G., Simmons M., Skandamis P., Suffredini E., Caccio S., Chalmers R., Deplazes P., Devleesschauwer B., Innes E., Romig T., van der Giessen J., Hempen M., Van der Stede Y., Robertson L., University of Zurich, Indústries Alimentàries, and Funcionalitat i Seguretat Alimentària
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,10078 Institute of Parasitology ,2405 Parasitology ,detection ,Plant Science ,Biological Hazards ,PROTOZOAN PARASITES ,Food chain ,0302 clinical medicine ,600 Technology ,1110 Plant Science ,Medicine and Health Sciences ,TX341-641 ,food-borne parasite ,CRYPTOSPORIDIUM-PARVUM OOCYSTS ,food‐borne parasites ,Transmission (medicine) ,2404 Microbiology ,public health risk ,Cryptosporidium ,TOXOPLASMA-GONDII INFECTION ,HUMAN ALVEOLAR ECHINOCOCCOSIS ,3401 Veterinary (miscellaneous) ,EXPERT ELICITATION ,Livestock ,Risk assessment ,medicine.medical_specialty ,663/664 ,Veterinary (miscellaneous) ,030231 tropical medicine ,030106 microbiology ,UNITED-STATES ,610 Medicine & health ,Toxoplasmagondii ,TP1-1185 ,Biology ,Echinococcus multilocularis ,Microbiology ,03 medical and health sciences ,SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being ,Environmental health ,parasitic diseases ,medicine ,1106 Food Science ,business.industry ,Nutrition. Foods and food supply ,Public health ,Chemical technology ,Toxoplasma gondii ,LONG-TERM SURVIVAL ,Echinococcu ,OYSTERS CRASSOSTREA-VIRGINICA ,biology.organism_classification ,food-borne parasites ,Echinococcus ,MUSSELS MYTILUS-GALLOPROVINCIALIS ,TISSUE CYSTS ,Scientific Opinion ,570 Life sciences ,biology ,Animal Science and Zoology ,Parasitology ,1103 Animal Science and Zoology ,business ,control ,Food Science - Abstract
Parasites are important food‐borne pathogens. Their complex lifecycles, varied transmission routes, and prolonged periods between infection and symptoms mean that the public health burden and relative importance of different transmission routes are often difficult to assess. Furthermore, there are challenges in detection and diagnostics, and variations in reporting. A Europe‐focused ranking exercise, using multicriteria decision analysis, identified potentially food‐borne parasites of importance, and that are currently not routinely controlled in food. These are Cryptosporidium spp., Toxoplasma gondii and Echinococcus spp. Infection with these parasites in humans and animals, or their occurrence in food, is not notifiable in all Member States. This Opinion reviews current methods for detection, identification and tracing of these parasites in relevant foods, reviews literature on food‐borne pathways, examines information on their occurrence and persistence in foods, and investigates possible control measures along the food chain. The differences between these three parasites are substantial, but for all there is a paucity of well‐established, standardised, validated methods that can be applied across the range of relevant foods. Furthermore, the prolonged period between infection and clinical symptoms (from several days for Cryptosporidium to years for Echinococcus spp.) means that source attribution studies are very difficult. Nevertheless, our knowledge of the domestic animal lifecycle (involving dogs and livestock) for Echinoccocus granulosus means that this parasite is controllable. For Echinococcus multilocularis, for which the lifecycle involves wildlife (foxes and rodents), control would be expensive and complicated, but could be achieved in targeted areas with sufficient commitment and resources. Quantitative risk assessments have been described for Toxoplasma in meat. However, for T. gondii and Cryptosporidium as faecal contaminants, development of validated detection methods, including survival/infectivity assays and consensus molecular typing protocols, are required for the development of quantitative risk assessments and efficient control measures. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
- Published
- 2018
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