Human diphyllobothriosis in Taiwan: A review of cases and molecular evidence of Dibothriocephalus nihonkaiensis

Chia-Kwung Fan; Daniel Barčák; Tomáš Scholz; Pasaikou Sonko; Martina Orosová; Kua-Eyre Su; Chun-Chao Chang; Yuarn-Jang Lee; Roman Kuchta; Mikuláš Oros

doi:10.1016/j.fawpar.2023.e00213

Human diphyllobothriosis in Taiwan: A review of cases and molecular evidence of Dibothriocephalus nihonkaiensis

Food Waterborne Parasitol. 2023 Nov 8:33:e00213. doi: 10.1016/j.fawpar.2023.e00213. eCollection 2023 Dec.

Authors

Chia-Kwung Fan¹, Daniel Barčák², Tomáš Scholz³, Pasaikou Sonko^{1

4}, Martina Orosová², Kua-Eyre Su⁵, Chun-Chao Chang⁶, Yuarn-Jang Lee^{6

7}, Roman Kuchta³, Mikuláš Oros²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Molecular Parasitology and Tropical Diseases, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
² Institute of Parasitology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Košice, Slovak Republic.
³ Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech Republic.
⁴ Department of International PhD Program in Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁵ Department of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁶ Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taiwan.
⁷ Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Shuang Ho Hospital, Taipei Medical University, New Taipei City, Taiwan.

Abstract

Diphyllobothriosis is an infectious disease caused by the consumption of raw freshwater or marine fish containing larvae of broad tapeworms (Diphyllobothriidae). In the present study, we critically reviewed all cases of human diphyllobothriosis reported from Taiwan, including unpublished reports from hospitals in Taipei. Genotyping based on mitochondrial DNA marker (cox1) confirmed that two of the recent cases were caused by Dibothriocephalus nihonkaiensis, which is not native to Taiwan and was probably imported with Pacific salmon infected with larvae of D. nihonkaiensis. The causative species previously reported in Taiwan could not be definitively confirmed. However, considering the distribution of Dibothriocephalus latus, which is not endemic in Taiwan, past cases diagnosed as D. latus are questionable.

Keywords: Diphyllobothriosis; Fish-borne parasite; Salmon; Taiwan; cox1.