Bobbi Pritt, director of the Clinical Parasitology Laboratory in the Mayo Clinics Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, said the worm is "almost certainly" an
anisakid - a parasitic roundworm that feeds on fish and marine mammals and, when ingested alive by humans, can cause disease.
The risk of infection with
anisakid larvae, mainly Anisakis spp., by eating sushi and sashimi is higher in countries where regulations on preventive treatment have not been implemented.
The present study aimed to report the presence of larval stages of
anisakid nematodes in Plagioscion squamosissimus from Xingu River, near the municipality of Altamira, and Pellona castelnaeana from Mosqueiro Island, in the municipality of Belem, both in the State of Para, Brazil, and to determine their parasitism indices and infection sites.
"I eat raw fish regularly and the only thing I really worry about is anisakiasis from
anisakid roundworms," said Blanar.
Nematodes of the family Anisakidae parasitize fish, mammals, birds and reptiles (Moravec, 1998), and are agents of anisakiasis, a parasitic disease brought about by the consumption of raw fish infected with
anisakid larvae.
In natural cycles,
anisakid larvae are transmitted to marine mammals or piscivorous birds when they eat raw saltwater fish or squid.
The
Anisakid nematodes are commonly known as codworm or sealworm.
Phenotypic tradeoffs between egg number and egg size in three parasitic
anisakid nematodes.
Molecular systematic, phylogeny and ecology of
anisakid nematodes of the genus Anisakis Dujardin, 1845: Un update.
Raw Pacific salmon and red snapper (Pacific rockfish) have been specifically linked to anisakiasis, a parasite infection from
anisakid worms.