Food-borne parasitic zoonoses in the Philippines.

A number of food-borne parasitic zoonoses have been recorded in the Philippines and include echinostomiasis, artyfechinostomosis, fascioliasis, heterophydiasis, carneophallosis, clonorchiasis, paragonimiasis, taeniasis, echinococcosis/hydatidosis, diphyllobothriosis/spirometrosis and sparganosis, intestinal capillariasis, gnathostomiasis, angiostrongylosis, toxoplasmosis and sarcosporidiosis. Some are now rarely observed while others continue to be public health problems. Many are endemic in certain areas of the Philippines because of the habit of consuming raw or partly cooked fish, snails, crustaceans, and meat. Artyfechinostomosis caused by Artyfechinostomum malayanum is a recently recognized problem in the Philippines and is reported in man and pigs. Human infection results from ingesting raw or partly cooked the freshwater snail, Bullastra cumingiana which serves as second intermediate host. More information on the epidemiology, transmission including the animal hosts involved locally are still needed for some of these problems. Human infection with many of these diseases can be prevented by changing the food habits, but this requires aggressive health education campaigns.