Epidemiology and control prospects of foodborne parasitic zoonoses in the European Union

In the 27 Member States of the European Union, zoonotic parasites transmitted by food are circulating with different prevalence according to the country, the environmental conditions, the human behaviour, and the socio-economic level. Foodborne parasites can be divided in two main groups according to the way of transmission to humans. These foodborne parasites reach the human beings through the consumption of raw infected food such as muscle tissues of different animal species (Toxoplasma gondii, Sarcocystis hominis, Sarcocystis suishominis, Diphyllobotrium latum, Taenia solium, Taenia saginata, Opisthorchis felineus, Anisakis spp., Pseudoterranova spp., Trichinella spp.), or vegetables (Fasciola hepatica), and contaminated food and water resources (Giardia duodenalis, Cryptosporidium spp., T. gondii, Echinococcus granulosus sensu latu, Echinococcus multilocularis, T. solium, Taenia multiceps). As a general role, the control strategies should be based on the education of the consumers, farmers and shepherds, the improvement of farming conditions, the improvement or the development of more sensitive methods to detect these parasites in slaughtered animals and in foodstuff, a control of sewage sludge on pastures and of drinking water resources, and the reduction of contacts between livestock and wild animals which frequently represent the most important reservoir of these pathogens.