Prevalence of fishborne zoonotic parasites in important cultured fish species in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam.
A seasonal investigation on the occurrence of fishborne zoonotic trematodes (FZT) in economically important mono-cultured hybrid catfish and giant gouramy was conducted in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. Fish from carp poly-culture and intensive small-scale integrated vegetable-aquaculture-animal husbandry farming (VAC) systems were also examined. No FZT metacercariae were found in any mono-cultured hybrid catfish. FZT metacercariae were common, however, in fish from the other three systems: All metacercariae belonged to the Heterophyidae family of trematodes, Haplorchis pumilio, H. taichui, Centrocestus formosanus and Stellantchasmus falcatus. The FZT prevalence was 1.7% in mono-cultured giant gouramy, 6.6% in carp from the poly-culture and 3.0% in fish raised in the VAC system. H. pumilio was the most common FZT species constituting more than 58.0% of all metacercariae recovered. The prevalence of infection was significantly higher in the flooding season compared to the non-flooding season for both giant gouramy and fish reared in the VAC system. FZT intensity was greatest in fish from carp poly-culture, particularly in the flooding season. The results indicate that certain fish production systems are at risk for FZT, and control approaches will benefit from understanding these risk factors.
Thien
Pham Cu
PC
Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 1870, Frederiksberg C, Denmark.
Dalsgaard
Anders
A
Thanh
Bui Ngoc
BN
Olsen
Annette
A
Murrell
K Darwin
KD
D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild / Q000469:parasitology; D005393:Fish Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D005398:Fisheries; D005399:Fishes / Q000469:parasitology*; D006578:Heterophyidae / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010273:Parasitic Diseases, Animal / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D015995:Prevalence; D012621:Seasons; D014744:Vietnam / Q000453:epidemiology; D015047:Zoonoses / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology