National Institute of Nutrition and Seafood Research (NIFES), Norway – EU project collaboration

http://nifes.no/en/research-topics/

NIFES has worked as the Work packing leadership in curent EU project. Prof. Arne Levsen has attended sampling of striped catfish in Mekong Delta, and technique training of metacercaria colecting and identification.

Task 2.3 Presence of zoonotic parasites in Vietnamese Pangasius production systems.

Task Leader: IBE

Participants: NIFES, UT-URS, UOC

Following two successive Sutchi catfish (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus) production cycles, 80-100 fish close to market size will be collected at least bi-monthly at different fish farms in southern Vietnam, each representing either pond-, floating cage- or net-pen enclosure facilities. To examine for the presence of zoonotic parasites with emphasis on trematode metacercariae, the fish will be skinned and the flesh pressed (8-10 bar) before visual inspection on a light table at low magnification. In contrast to the artificial digestion-method this procedure allows recording of both parasite abundance and the approximate infection site. The detection accuracy of the procedure will be tested by applying the artificial digestion-method on at least 20 flesh sides per sampling round and farming system. Additionally, various industrially produced fillets, ready for export, will be examined monthly over a two year period for the presence of metacercariae using the same procedures as for the freshly collected fish. The metacercariae found will be identified by applying both morphometric and molecular techniques. Finally, the infection data will be analysed and compared with respect to fish size, type of product/fillet size, farming system and time of year/season (WP8).

Participant Role

NIFES WP leadership. Epidemiological data collection. Parasite investigations of cultured Pangasius species.

CSIC (IIM-E) Epidemiological data collection. Case study on Pacific squid imports to Spain.