Health Alert: Raw Fish Consumption in Morocco Linked to Parasites and Illness

According to research conducted over about forty years (1979-2019), and based on data from the European Rapid Alert System, "one of the main reasons for the rejection of Moroccan exported fish is the presence of parasites". The risk increases with the age and size of the fish, accompanied by symptoms manifesting as acute gastritis, including ulcers or diarrhea and vomiting, reports L’économiste.

To this end, a field work aimed at the direct search for parasites, through visual inspection, concerned 1,678 pieces of fish of different species, of which 537 came from the Atlantic (port of Essaouira and wholesale market of Casablanca) and 1,141 pieces from the Mediterranean.

Following the results of the field work, five groups of parasites were found: Nematodes, xenomes, trematodes, isopods and copepods. The extent of the infestation is almost the same on the Mediterranean coast (31.1%) and the Atlantic (32.0%), explains the newspaper. Nematodes (Anisakis Complex + acanthocephalans) occupy the majority of parasites on the Atlantic and Mediterranean, with respective prevalences of 21.4% and 24.9%, it is specified.

Regarding the parasites, they were collected both on the skin of the fish, from the abdominal cavity, after ventral incision and from the flesh, after longitudinal incision of the muscle. The number, type and location of each parasite were noted. They were then stored in tubes containing a solution of alcohol and glycerol, the same source reveals. It emerges that the overall prevalence is 32% at the two Atlantic coastal sites. Regarding the Mediterranean coast, the frequency is 31%. In addition, a number of 1,425 parasites were detected in 1,141 pieces of fish of different species.