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The Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization recently ranked foodborne parasites to identify those of greatest concern. The ranking took into account public health as well as socioeconomic and trade perspectives. Parasites that ranked high included Taenia solium, Echinococcus spp., Toxoplasma gondii, Trichinella spiralis, Ascaris lumbricoides and Toxocara canis.

An international research group investigated exposure to these six parasites in Estonian population and its selected subgroups. Antibodies against zoonotic parasites were detected in all tested groups, and the exposure appeared to occur already early in life. 

The most striking finding was that based on the results, more than half of the population in Estonia is infected with the parasite Toxoplasma gondii. In other European countries, the proportion of infected individuals has declined over time, but not in Estonia. 

The authors conclude that zoonotic parasites would merit more attention in Estonia. Comparing the results of their study with the numbers of diagnosed and reported cases suggests underdiagnosing or underreporting. 

The article was published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE.

Sources:
•    Lassen B, Janson M, Viltrop A, Neare K, Hütt P, Golovljova I, et al. (2016) Serological Evidence of Exposure to Globally Relevant Zoonotic Parasites in the Estonian Population. PLoS ONE 11(10): e0164142. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0164142

•    FAO/WHO [Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations/World Health Organization].2014. Multicriteria-based ranking for risk management of food-borne parasites. Microbiological Risk Assessment Series No. 23. Rome. 302pp. Retrieved from: http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/112672/1/9789241564700_eng.pdf?ua=1 

•    WHO. (2015). WHO estimates of the global burden of foodborne diseases: foodborne disease burden epidemiology reference group 2007-2015. Retrieved from: http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/199350/1/9789241565165_eng.pdf?ua=1