Dibothriocephalus nihonkaiensis: an emerging foodborne parasite in Brittany (France)?

Parasites & Vectors

Table 1 Characteristics of the seven patients with D. nihonkaiensis infection diagnosed in Brittany (France) from 2016 to 2018

Patient #	Sex	Age (years)	Date of diagnosis	Putative source of infection	Putative area of infection	Clinical signs	Observed stage	Additional data	GenBank ID
1	F	27	July 2016	Japanese food	France	Abdominal pain, fatigue, diarrhea	Eggs		MK070861
2	M	16	September 2016	Smoked salmon or Japanese food	Probably France, possibly Sweden or Norway	None	Adult	Ate traditional smoked salmon in Norway (2004, 2007) and Sweden (2011)^a	MK070860
3	F	48	August 2017	Japanese food	France	Abdominal pain, fatigue, diarrhea, loss of weight, itch	Adult	Ate raw fishes in Asia but only freshwater fishes	MK070862
4	M	30	January 2018	Japanese food	France	Abdominal pain, fatigue, diarrhea	Adult		MK070863
5	M	41	July 2018	Japanese food	Probably France, possibly border country	Abdominal pain, fatigue, diarrhea	Adult	Microscopic examinations of stools in October 2017 were negative for parasites^b	MK070864
6	M	42	August 2018	Undercooked salmon or Japanese food	France	Abdominal pain, fatigue, diarrhea	Adult	In early 2018: consumed undercooked salmon of unknown origin, bought at a local supermarket in Corrèze (France)	MK070865
7	F	20	September 2018	Japanese food	France	Abdominal pain, fatigue, nausea	Adult		MK070866

^aAs traditional smoked salmon is commonly made with Atlantic salmon in Northern Europe and D. nihonkaiensis is acquired through ingestion of Pacific salmon, contamination probably occurred by sushi consumption. However, the use of infected Pacific salmon by a smokery could not be completely excluded
^bThis patient was previously followed for pericarditis associated with 3 G/L hypereosinophilia and positive serology for anisakiosis (October 2017). After exclusion of other possible etiologies, a treatment with corticosteroids and albendazole was administered in April 2018

ISSN: 1756-3305