Anisakidosis in humans and animals and detection of anisakid larvae in fish and cephalopods in Korea: a literature review (1971-2022)

Abstract

Human anisakiasis (or anisakidosis) is a disease caused by the ingestion of marine fish orcephalopods infected with anisakid nematode larvae of the genera Anisakis, Pseudoterranova,Contracaecum, and Hysterothylacium . Anisakiasis is a clinically important disease that oftenmanifests as an acute abdominal syndrome requiring emergency medical attention andcare. In Korea, at least several thousand clinical cases have been diagnosed to date; however,only a small proportion of them have been reported in the literature (1971-2022). The mostcommon etiological agents were Anisakis pegreffii (reported as Anisakis sp., Anisakis type I,or erroneously Anisakis simplex), followed by Pseudoterranova decipiens, Contracaecum sp.,and Anisakis simplex sensu stricto (s.s.). Most cases involved the stomach and small or largeintestine, with a few involving the oral cavity (oral mucosa, pharynx, and tonsils), esophagus,omentum, and mesocolic lymph nodes. Anisakis allergies and host immune responses havebeen studied in humans and experimental animals. Marine fish and cephalopods, includingsea eel (Astro conger myriaster), squid (Todarodes pacificus), yellow corvina (Pseudosciaenamanchurica), Japanese flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus), codfish (Gadus macrocephalus),yellowtail (Seriola quinquaradiata), and rockfish (Sebastes spp.), are the most commoninfection sources. Surveys were performed on anisakid nematode larvae in marine fish andcephalopods caught in the western, eastern, and southern seas of Korea. The larvae recoveredfrom fish or cephalopods caught from the western and southern seas were predominantlyA. pegreffii larvae; however, the larvae from the eastern sea were either A. pegreffii larvae (inthe chub mackerel, Japanese flounder, and rockfish) or A. simplex s.s. (in the salmon andpollock; these fish migrate through the northern North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea andcome to Korea). Health education to avoid eating raw or improperly cooked marine fish andcephalopods (particularly the viscera) is crucial for preventing human anisakidosis in Korea.