Assessing food-borne risks of Toxocara infection in support of public health and food quality assurance

弓蛔虫，由人畜共患线虫寄生虫弓蛔虫属感染引起，是一个日益严重的公共卫生问题。临床和亚临床影响的证据越来越多，例如通过神经和呼吸系统疾病以及认知发育受损（Ma等人，2018 Lancet Infectious Diseases 18，E14-E24）。高血清阳性率表明存在显著的疾病负担（Rostami et al. 2019 Inf Gen Evol 74，UNSP 104002）。据推测，感染主要是通过接触被感染狗、猫和狐狸粪便中的虫卵污染的土壤。许多动物物种也可以作为运输宿主，其中包括牲畜。例如，在英国，高达47%的绵羊已经测试出特异性抗弓蛔虫抗体阳性（Lloyd等人，2006 Vet Parasitol 137，269-272）。这增加了通过肉类传播的可能性。然而，除了一些与食用未煮熟的鸟肝有关的病例报告外，这一途径在公共卫生风险评估中基本上被忽视了。此外，蔬菜可能会受到污染，但有关危害程度的证据尚未公布

Toxocariasis, caused by infection with the zoonotic nematode parasite Toxocara spp., is an increasing public health concern. Evidence for clinical and subclinical impacts, e.g. through neurological and respiratory disease and impaired cognitive development, is increasing (Ma et al. 2018 Lancet Infectious Diseases 18, E14-E24). High seroprevalence suggests a significant burden of disease (Rostami et al. 2019 Inf Gen Evol 74, UNSP 104002). Infection is supposed to be mostly from contact with soil contaminated by eggs shed in the faeces of infected dogs, cat and foxes. A wide range of animals species can also act as transport hosts, and this includes livestock. Up to 47% of sheep in the UK, for example, have tested positive for specific anti-Toxocara antibodies (Lloyd et al. 2006 Vet Parasitol 137, 269-272). This raises the possibility of meat-borne transmission. Beyond some case reports linked to consumption of undercooked bird liver, however, this route has largely been ignored in public health risk assessments. Furthermore, contamination of vegetables could occur but evidence of the level of hazard has not been published