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The increasing demand for raw or undercooked fish products, supplied by both aquaculture and fisheries, raises concerns about the transmission risk to humans of zoonotic fish parasites. This has led to the current European Union (EU) Regulation No 1276/2011 amending Annex III of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 and mandating a freezing treatment of such products. Zoonotic parasites, particularly anisakid larvae, have been well documented in wild fish. Data on their presence in European aquaculture products, however, are still scarce, except for Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), where the zoonotic risk was assessed as negligible, exempting it from freezing treatment. Aim: To evaluate the zoonotic Anisakidae parasite risk in European farmed marine fish other than Atlantic salmon. Methods: From 2016 to 2018 an observational parasitological survey was undertaken on 6,549 farmed fish including 2,753 gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata), 2,761 European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) and 1,035 turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) from 14 farms in Italy, Spain and Greece. Furthermore, 200 rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) sea-caged in Denmark, as well as 352 seabream and 290 seabass imported in Italy and Spain from other countries were examined. Fish were subjected to visual inspection and candling. Fresh visceral organs/fillet samples were artificially digested or UV pressed and visually examined for zoonotic anisakid larvae. Results: No zoonotic parasites were found in any of the fish investigated. Conclusions: The risk linked to zoonotic Anisakidae in the examined fish species from European mariculture appears negligible. This study laid the groundwork for considerations to amend the current EU regulation

There is an extensive range of helminthic parasites of fish, but only a moderate number of species are capable of producing foodborne diseases in humans. These diseases are either caused by an infection following ingestion of viable parasites, or by an allergic reaction against parasite antigens which occurs, so far, due to nematodes of the family Anisakidae. Anisakis simplex is the species most frequently associated with human disease, followed by Pseudoterranova decipiens (Adams, Murrell et al. 1997) and Contracaecum osculatum (Strom, Haarder et al. 2015). In fact, A. simplex is the second most predominant biological hazard, constituting 33% of the reported hazards in 2009 (Kleter, Prandini et al. 2009). Other fish helminths of zoonotic concern are cestodes and trematodes (especially Diphyllobothriids and episthorchioidea,respectively). They have received less attention despite of the reported human cases in Europe caused by these freshwater fish-bornezoonotic parasites Thus far, the available epidemiological data for farmed freshwater fishare scarce and necessary. For these main reasons in 2010, EFSA recommended studies to evaluate the effects of different farming practices on the prevalence of parasites in aquaculture (EFSA 2010). As a matter of fact, one of the conclusions of this report suggests that Atlantic salmon (AS), reared in floating cages and fed compound foodstuffs, are unlikely to contain live zoonotic parasites and therefore the risk of infection is negligible. However, a later survey detected anisakid and raphidascarid larvae (A. simplex and Hysterothylacium aduncum respectively) in AS runts (Mo, Gahr et al. 2014) which contrasts with a number of previous studies that confirmed no anisakids larvae in sea-farmed salmonids (Inoue, Oshima et al. 2000; Skov, Kania et al. 2009; EFSA 2010; Wootten, Yoon et al. 2010). These discrepancies were solved in a very recent study were 4,184 farmed AS, including runts, were sampled and examined in 2014/15. The fis

The field vole (Microtus agrestis) is a known maintenance host of mycobacterium microti. Previous studies have shown that infected animals develop tuberculosis. However, the disease is also known in cats and is sporadically reported from humans and other mammalian species. We examined trapped field voles from an endemic area, using a range of diagnostic approaches. These confirmed that a combination of gross and histological examination with culture is most appropriate to identify the true prevalence of the disease, which was shown to be more than 13% at times when older animals that have previously been shown to be more likely to develop the disease dominate the population. The thorough pathological examination of diseased animals showed that voles generally develop systemic disease with most frequent involvement of spleen and liver, followed by skin, lymph nodes, and lungs. The morphology of the lesions was consistent with active disease, and their distribution suggested skin wounds or oral and/or aerogenic infection as the main portal of entry. The demonstration of mycobacteria in open skin lesions, airways, and salivary glands indicated bacterial shedding from the skin and with sputum and saliva. This suggests not only the environment but also direct contact and devouring as likely sources of infection.