Edible insects role in transmission of parasitic diseases to humans (2019)
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Re: Edible insects role in transmission of parasitic diseases to humans (2019)
#2I’ve wondered about this for a few years so this is extremely gratifying to read. I’ll have to go in deeper later to really understand the implications of each parasite, but my main takeaway is that my intuition here was way off. I expected insects to pose far fewer risks from parasites to humans.
I wouldn’t have taken a chance based on that assumption, and cooking bugs seems like it would eliminate most of these pathogens, but still. I figured it would be safer.
I’d need to read a lot more to draw some kind of comparison between insects and animal agriculture (both seem to carry plenty of baggage), but it’s great to see research like this so it’s possible to begin doing so.
Re: Edible insects role in transmission of parasitic diseases to humans (2019)
#3"Parasitic developmental forms were detected in 244 (81.33%) out of 300 (100%) examined insect farms. In 206 (68.67%) of the cases, the identified parasites were pathogenic for insects only; in 106 (35.33%) cases, parasites were potentially parasitic for animals; and in 91 (30.33%) cases, parasites were potentially pathogenic for humans. " Sounds horrific. How does this compare to other food sources?
Re: Edible insects role in transmission of parasitic diseases to humans (2019)
#4"Parasitic developmental forms were detected in 244 (81.33%) out of 300 (100%) examined insect farms. In 206 (68.67%) of the cases, the identified parasites were pathogenic for insects only; in 106 (35.33%) cases, parasites were potentially parasitic for animals; and in 91 (30.33%) cases, parasites were potentially pathogenic for humans. " Sounds horrific. How does this compare to other food sources?
We've been eating other foods for a very long time, and we've developed methods to handle, and prevent, the parasites.
Cook meat, make sure fruits and vegetables are not blighted, ferment dairy, various preservation methods from pickling to canning to smoking.
The list of methods is enormous.
We haven't been eating insects except in times of famine. We have not yet developed methods of dealing with it.
Re: Edible insects role in transmission of parasitic diseases to humans (2019)
#5Possibly like any other food source, then? Boils down to how they're grown, handled, prepared.
Arguably, the wet markets in Wuhan wouldn't have been such a disease nightmare if the cages of live animals weren't kept one atop the other, dripping feces and other fluids between species and breaking the inter-species barrier.
Re: Edible insects role in transmission of parasitic diseases to humans (2019)
#6"Parasitic developmental forms were detected in 244 (81.33%) out of 300 (100%) examined insect farms. In 206 (68.67%) of the cases, the identified parasites were pathogenic for insects only; in 106 (35.33%) cases, parasites were potentially parasitic for animals; and in 91 (30.33%) cases, parasites were potentially pathogenic for humans. " Sounds horrific. How does this compare to other food sources?
That's the right question. And other food sources from similar farmers.
Re: Edible insects role in transmission of parasitic diseases to humans (2019)
#7"Parasitic developmental forms were detected in 244 (81.33%) out of 300 (100%) examined insect farms. In 206 (68.67%) of the cases, the identified parasites were pathogenic for insects only; in 106 (35.33%) cases, parasites were potentially parasitic for animals; and in 91 (30.33%) cases, parasites were potentially pathogenic for humans. " Sounds horrific. How does this compare to other food sources?
We've been eating other foods for a very long time, and we've developed methods to handle, and prevent, the parasites. Cook meat, make sure fruits and vegetables are not blighted, ferment dairy, various preservation methods from pickling to canning to smoking. The list of methods is enormous. We haven't been eating insects except in times of famine. We have not yet developed methods of dealing with it.
Humans have been eating insects for a long time. In south africa they eat ants, china they eat scorpio, thailand they eat crickets...
The ants and the scorpio are quite tasty IMO.
On the other hand, I know of places where their casual vegetables are dangerous because their hold traces of animals feces with pathogens but you couldn't tell when buying them.
And finally, I remember eating the best eggs ever from my mother old neighbourg for years. One day friends from the city come, and eating them, get sick. So there is a strong habit component.
The study on insects is interesting but more informations is needed to draw conclusions.
Re: Edible insects role in transmission of parasitic diseases to humans (2019)
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
We've been eating other foods for a very long time, and we've developed methods to handle, and prevent, the parasites. Cook meat, make sure fruits and vegetables are not blighted, ferment dairy, various preservation methods from pickling to canning to smoking. The list of methods is enormous. We haven't been eating insects except in times of famine. We have not yet developed methods of dealing with it.
Humans have been eating insects for a long time. In south africa they eat ants, china they eat scorpio, thailand they eat crickets... The ants and the scorpio are quite tasty IMO. On the other hand, I know of places where their casual vegetables are dangerous because their hold traces of animals feces with pathogens but you couldn't tell when buying them. And finally, I remember eating the best eggs ever from my moth…
These are trivial quantities that are unreasonable to reference.
Re: Edible insects role in transmission of parasitic diseases to humans (2019)
#9"Parasitic developmental forms were detected in 244 (81.33%) out of 300 (100%) examined insect farms. In 206 (68.67%) of the cases, the identified parasites were pathogenic for insects only; in 106 (35.33%) cases, parasites were potentially parasitic for animals; and in 91 (30.33%) cases, parasites were potentially pathogenic for humans. " Sounds horrific. How does this compare to other food sources?
That's the right question. And other food sources from similar farmers.
I think the brakes should be slammed until that is answered. Unless we want another pandemic. Given the rate of mutation and transmission in bugs with natural gestation and migration, the probability of catastrophic outcomes is exponential without a similar dataset in other human food sources.
Re: Edible insects role in transmission of parasitic diseases to humans (2019)
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's the right question. And other food sources from similar farmers.
I think the brakes should be slammed until that is answered. Unless we want another pandemic. Given the rate of mutation and transmission in bugs with natural gestation and migration, the probability of catastrophic outcomes is exponential without a similar dataset in other human food sources.
> [...] the probability of catastrophic outcomes is exponential [...]
What does that even mean? Do you want to say that the probability is high?