ABSTRACT
This chapter provides state-of-the-art overviews on foodborne diseases caused by Anisakis in relation to their etiology, biology, epidemiology, clinical presentation, pathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. Accounting for a majority of human cases of anisakidosis, the genus Anisakis is capable of inducing acute gastric/intestinal, ectopic, and gastroallergic anisakiasis (GAA). The family Anisakidae consists of eight genera, i.e., Anisakis, Contracaecum, Ophidascaris, Phocascaris, Pseudanisakis, Pseudoterranova, Sulcascaris, and Terranova, which can parasitize fish, reptiles, and fish-eating birds and mammals; and which usually involve invertebrates and fish as intermediate or paratenic hosts. Human Anisakis infection was first reported in 1960 in the Netherlands, for which lightly salted pickled herring was implicated. Traditional approaches for diagnosis of human Anisakis infection include identification of recovered larvae via endoscopy or surgery. For gastric anisakiasis, removal of Anisakis larvae with biopsy forceps is curative; for intestinal anisakiasis, surgery or anthelmintic therapy may be considered.
