Analysis of Kudoa septempunctata as a cause of foodborne illness and its associated differential diagnosis

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Epidemiol Health. 2017;39.e2017037r

Publication date (electronic) : 2017 August 21

doi : https://doi.org/10.4178/epih.e2017037r

Jeju Special Self-Governing Provincial Office, Jeju, Korea

Correspondence: Sung Uk Lee Jeju Special Self-Governing Provincial Office, 6 Munyeon-ro, Jeju 63122, Korea E-mail: sulee86rad@gmail.com

The difference between South Korea and Japan in terms of animal experiments on the pathogenicity of Kudoa septempunctata has not been explored in previous studies. More in-depth discussion among experts is necessary to explain this discrepancy.

Moreover, as you have mentioned, credible case-control studies and retrospective cohort studies have not yet been conducted on K. septempunctata. Only animal experiments and case series have been published, which leads me to believe that additional studies are still needed to officially designate K. septempunctata as a causative agent of foodborne illness.

As discussed in the paper, the case series study that was presented to argue for a causal link between K. septempuncatata and foodborne illness is open to counterargument since the study detected other pathogens as well.

I agree with your opinion that additional epidemiological and pathological investigations are necessary.

Notes

The author has no conflicts of interest to declare for this study.

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