ZOONOSIS OF AQUATICAL ORGANISMS

• Main Authors: Božidar Kurtović, Emin Teskeredžić
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sciendo 2001-12-01
• Series: Croatian Journal of Fisheries
• Subjects: zoonosis; fish; cryfish; shellfish; human infection; poisoning
• Online Access: http://ribarstvo.agr.hr/articles/75513_ZOONOZE_ORGANIZAMA_KOJI_IVE_U_VODI_hr.pdf

Aquatic organisms play a very important role in human nutrition. They also pose a real threat for human health by causing various diseases. Parasites, bacteria and viruses may either directly or indirectly be carried from aquatic organisms to humans. Disease outbreaks are influenced by many factors among which decreased immune response and feeding habits and higyene are most important. More frequent occuence of foodborne diseases has a number of reasons, including international travel and trade, microbial adaptation and changes in the food production system. Parasitic diseases occur most frequently as a result of human role in parasites life cycles. The prevalence is further increased by consuming raw fish and shellfish. The main feature of bacterial infections is facultative pathogenicity of most ethiological agents. In most cases disease occures as a result of decreased immunoreactivity. Several bacteria are, however, hightly pathogenic and capable of causing high morbidity and mortality in human. To date it has not been reported the case of human infection with viruses specific for aquatic organisms. Human infections are caused with human viruses and aquatic organisms play role only as vechicles. The greatest risk in that respect present shellfish. Fish and particularly shellfish are likely to cause food poisoning in humans. In most cases the cause are toxins of phithoplancton origins accumulating in shellfish and fish.