Anisakid Larvae from Anchovies in the South Coast of Korea

Abstract

Anisakiasis (anisakidosis) refers to a foodborne zoonosis caused by ingesting raw or undercooked marine fish or cephalopods infected with anisakid larvae. The present study was performed to investigate the prevalence of anisakid larvae in anchovies (<i>Engraulis</i> <i>japonica</i>) purchased from 2 local markets in Gyeongsangnam-do, the Republic of Korea (=Korea), during 2018-2019. Anchovies were transported to our laboratory and examined by pepsin-HCl artificial digestion technique followed by microscopic observations and molecular analyses. The overall prevalence of anisakid larvae was 19.5% (39/200), from which a total of 51 larvae (av. 1.3 larvae/infected anchovy) were recovered. Sequencing of the larvae targeting the ITS region, including ITS1, 5.8S rRNA, and ITS2 genes confirmed the species of larvae as <i>Anisakis</i> <i>pegreffii</i> (54.9%; 28/51), <i>Hysterothylacium</i> <i>sinense</i> (23.5%; 12/51), and <i>Hysterothylacium</i> <i>aduncum</i> (21.5%; 11/51). The results suggested that anchovies could be a potential source of human anisakiasis in Korea.