Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2023 Mar;9(2):748-777.
doi: 10.1002/vms3.981. Epub 2022 Oct 21.

A review on fish-borne zoonotic parasites in Iran

Nasser Hajipour  1   2 , Hadi Valizadeh  2 , Jennifer Ketzis  3
Affiliations
Review

A review on fish-borne zoonotic parasites in Iran

Nasser Hajipour et al. Vet Med Sci. 2023 Mar.

Abstract

Background: Fish is a great nutritious food and provides quality protein and a variety of vitamins and minerals. This contributes significantly to the economy and food security in Iran. However, there are safety concerns related to the presence of zoonotic parasites.

Objectives: The objective of this study is, therefore, to review fish-borne zoonotic parasites in Iran.

Methods: Keywords such as fish-borne, parasites, zoonotic, Iran, and some names of fish-borne zoonotic parasites were searched in databases including PubMed, Science Direct, Elsevier, SID, Magiran, Irandoc, Google Scholar and the World Health Organization.

Results: The most common fish-borne parasites with zoonotic potential identified in reports in the literature were the protozoa Balantidium spp., Myxobolus spp. and Sarcosystis sp.; the trematodes Heterophyes heterophyes and Clinostomum complanatum; the cestodes Ligula intestinalis and Diphyllobothrium latum; the nematodes Pseudoterranova sp., Anisakis spp., Contracaecum spp., Raphidascaris spp., Eustrongylides spp. and Capillaria sp.; and the acanthocephal Corynosoma spp.

Conclusions: The potential risk factors for the transmission of fish-borne zoonotic parasites to humans are consumption of raw or undercooked infected fish, contact with contaminated water and contact with infected fish. There is a need for epidemiological surveillance of fish for parasites with zoonotic potential and of occurrence of infections in humans to better understand the public health significance and design prevention programs.

Keywords: Iran; fish-borne; food safety; parasite; zoonotic.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

There is no conflict of interest.

References

    1. Abdi, K. , & Mobedi, I. (2000). Report on the first occurrence of Ligulus disease in ponds in hot water fish in Iran. Pajouhesh and Sazandegi, 13(3), 140.
    1. Abollo, E. , Gestal, C. , & Pascual, S. (2001). Anisakis infestation in marine fish and cephalopods from Galician waters: An updated perspective. Parasitology Research, 87(6), 492–499. - PubMed
    1. Adel, M. , Azizi, H. R. , & Nematolahi, A. (2013a). Scomberomorus commerson, a new paratenic host of Contracaecum sp. And Anisakis sp. (nematoda: Anisakidae) from Persian Gulf. World, 5(3), 310–314.
    1. Adel, M. , Saeedi, A. A. , Safari, R. , Azizi, H. R. , & Adel, M. (2013b). Pterophyllum scalare (Perciformes: Cichlidae) a new paratenic host of Capillaria sp. (Nematoda: Capillariidae) in Iran. World Journal of Zoology, 8(4), 371–375.
    1. Adel, M. , Azizi, H. , Pirali Kheirabad, K. , Dehghani, A. , Ghasempour, F. , & Makhtomi, Y. (2014). Identification of Anisakis spp. and Contracaecum spp in Otolithes rubber of southwest of Iran using morphological characterization. Journal of Zoonoses Research, 1(2), 1–7.

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources