Current status of food-borne parasitic zoonoses in Japan

Progress in public sanitation over the past four decades has greatly decreased the prevalence of soil-transmitted gastrointestinal parasites in Japan. Although food-borne zoonotic parasites also show a similar trend, there continues to be a steady flow of patients infected with the latter parasites. This stems from the traditional popularity among the Japanese of eating raw food, coupled with an increasing fondness for rare delicacies, overseas travel, and consumption of exotic food. These factors have given rise to many reports of anisakiasis, angiostrongyliasis, trichinellosis, capillariasis, gnathostomiasis, paragonimiasis, sparganosis, etc. Food-borne parasitic zoonoses in Japan can be roughly divided into three categories according to the type of food consumed, namely, livestock meat, wild game meat, and aquatic food. The current status of these diseases, including a discussion of the retro- and prospective trends are presented.