ABSTRACT
The liver ›uke, Opisthorchis viverrini is a member of the ‘sh-borne trematodes (FBT) that are endemic in Southeast Asia. The disease it causes, opisthorchiasis, is a neglected and overlooked disease because it is perceived as local and of limited occurrence. Comprehensive epidemiological studies and the extent of morbidity and disease burden as measured in Disability Adjusted Life Years [1], particularly in Southeast Asia, are lacking and greatly underestimated. Recent estimates of human populations at risk have indicated that ~70 million people in Southeast Asia alone, and ~700 millions in the rest of the world, are also at risk of infection by consumption of infected ‘sh and aquaculture imports. O. viverrini infection causes asymptomatic hepatobiliary diseases (opisthorchiasis) which can lead to the bile duct cancer (cholangiocarcinoma, CCA). CCA is a devastating malignancy with high mortality, lacking early diagnosis and hence it has been signi‘cant public health disease in Southeast Asia for decades. Unlike other cancers, CCA is an infectionin›ammation-induced cancer which in theory is preventable if exposure to the causative agent, O. viverrini is interrupted. Therefore, sensitive and diagnostically reliable detection methods for opisthorchiasis suitable to the current situation
are required for human diagnosis as well as for other life stages of the parasite throughout its life cycle. Development of diagnostically accurate markers facilitates comprehensive epidemiological studies, development, and introduction of surveillance and control programs of the parasite in humans and reservoir hosts and will ensure food safety and security. Achieving these goals will eventually lead to lowering the risk of CCA which predominantly is an insidious disease of the poor in Asia.
