Epidemiol Health.  2017;39:e2017004. 10.4178/epih.e2017004.

Is there evidence that Kudoa septempunctata can cause an outbreak of acute food poisoning?

• Chung YB
• Bae JM

• KMID: 2406608
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4178/epih.e2017004

Abstract

After publishing results of a study that revealed diarrheagenic and emetic activity in 4-5-day old mice infected with Kudoa septempunctata (K. septempunctata) spores, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 11 events of "Kudoa food poisoning" in 2015. The epidemiological design of the previous study was descriptive rather than analytical; therefore, this study aimed to further investigate the pathogenicity of K. septempunctata. Academic articles showing evidence of the pathogenicity of K. septempunctata were searched via PubMed using the citation discovery tool. Information regarding the kinds of experimental animals and inoculum spores used, as well as study results were extracted. Four articles evaluating the pathogenicity of Myxospran parasites were selected; the first article suggested the pathogenicity of K. septempunctata, while the remaining three articles reported no abnormal symptoms or histopathologic changes. Our findings indicate that there is weak evidence supporting the pathogenicity of K. septempunctata. Further studies evaluating the pathogenicity of K. septempunctata are needed urgently.

Keyword

Etiology; Virulence; Food parasitology; Parasitic intestinal diseases; Myxozoa

MeSH Terms

Animals
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.)
Food Parasitology
Foodborne Diseases*
Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic
Korea
Mice
Myxozoa
Parasites
Spores
Virulence