Human illnesses caused by Opisthorchis felineus flukes, Italy

Abstract

We report 2 outbreaks of Opisthorchis felineus infection caused by the consumption of tench filets (Tinca tinca) from a lake in Italy. Of the 22 infected persons, 10 (45.4%) were asymptomatic. When present, symptoms (fever, nausea, abdominal pain, and myalgias) were mild. Eosinophilia occurred in all infected persons.

Figure 1

A) Metacercaria of Opisthorchis felineus in muscles of a tench (Tinca tinca) from Lake Bolsena (Latium region, central Italy). Scale bar = 100 μm. B) Metacercaria of O. felineus collected from a tench filet by digestion with 1% pepsin and 1% HCl. Scale bar = 100 μm. C) Egg detected in feces of the index patient of the August 2007 outbreak. Scale bar = 10 μm.

Figure 2

Alignment of the internal transcribed spacer 2 region of rDNA. Patient 1, DNA from eggs of a patient of the August 2007 outbreak; patient 2, DNA from eggs of the patient of the October–November 2007 outbreak; metacercaria collected from a tench (Tinca tinca) from Lake Bolsena (Latium region, central Italy); Opisthorchis felineus, reference DNA from an adult worm of O. felineus from Germany; O. viverrini, reference DNA from an adult worm of O. viverrini from Thailand; C. sinensis, DNA from an adult worm of Clonorchis sinensis from China. Primer sequences are underlined, different bases are in boldface, and gaps are represented by dashes.