Studies on some fish parasites of public health importance in the southern area of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The present study was the first attempt to survey the diversity of fish zoonotic parasites in the southern region of Saudi Arabia, particularly the Najran area, from October 2012 to October 2013. Approximately 163 fish representing seven species (two of freshwater fish and five of marine fish) were examined for fish-borne trematode metacercariae using the compression technique, and for zoonotic nematode larvae. Adult flukes were obtained from cats experimentally infected with the metacercariae on day 25 post-infection The prevalence of each parasite species was recorded. The parasites found belonged to two taxa: Digenea (Heterophyes heterophyes and Haplorchis pumilio) in muscle tissue; and nematodes (larvae of Capillaria sp.) in the digestive tract. The morphological characteristics of the fish-borne trematode metacercariae and their experimentally obtained adults were described. This is the first report of these parasites in fish in Saudi Arabia. Moreover, Myripristis murdjan presented higher prevalence of Capillaria sp. infection (22.7%), while Haplorchis pumilio was the dominant metacercarial species (7.9%). Although the number of documented cases continues to increase, the overall risk of human infection is slight. The increasing exploitation of the marine environment by humans and the tendency to reduce cooking times when preparing seafood products both increase the chances of becoming infected with these parasites. Furthermore, our results indicate that certain fish production systems are at risk of presenting fish zoonotic parasites, and that control approaches will benefit from understanding these risk factors.

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“…The highest intensity of encysted metacercariae was recorded in the caudal region of the different fish species. Similar observation was reported by Ibrahim and Soliman (2010) and Khalil et al (2014). These findings reflect site preference of the parasite.…”

“…In other country, fish infected with H. heterophyes was reported. In Najran, Saudi Arabia, Khalil et al (2014) recorded 5% of M. cephalus infected with H. heterophyes with and a total prevalence of 7.2% of heterophyid metacercariae. Also, in Korea, 96.2% of freshwater fish were found infected with heterophid metacercariae (Park et al, 2007).…”

Endoparasites in Chanos chanos (Forsskal, 1775) from the wetlands of Zamboanga City, Western Mindanao, Philippines

“…It also agrees with the findings of Amaechi [1] that there was no relationship between the endoparasites and size of the fish. Khalil [15] also stated that there was no relationship between fish length and parasitism, given that larger-sized fish were less affected by infection than the smallersized fishes. Relationship between the physical characteristics of C. chanos shows a high correlation.…”

“…Freshwater and brackishwater fishes are the source of human infections with foodborne trematodes. There were already estimated numbers of people who are currently infected with Fish-borne trematodes wherein it exceeds in 18 million and most of them are at risk [15].…”

Gastric coccidiosis in Thoracocharax stellatus caused by Goussia guamaensis n. sp. (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) from the Amazon region

“…The organisms of the phylum Aplicomplexa are among the most important aetiological agents of disease in vertebrates and invertebrates, with both environmental and economic implications (Khali, El-Shahawy, & Abdelkader, 2014;Maia, 2015). The class Coccidia is widely considered to be one of the principal groups of parasites of aquatic organisms and is known to impact the bodily condition and natural stocks of a wide range of fish species (Abollo, Calvo, & Pascual, 2001;Azevedo, Matos, & Matos, 1995;Lovy & Friend, 2015;Morrison & Marryatt, 2012).…”