Gruesome Tapeworm Discovery Linked To Man's Daily Sushi Habit

FRESNO, CA — Another hazard of eating raw fish popped up, or rather out, in Fresno, California, last summer when a man walked into an emergency room and demanded treatment for worms. The patient eats sashimi — raw fish, in this case salmon — daily and figured that was the cause of a gruesome discovery in his bathroom.

He wrapped the evidence in an empty toilet paper roll and took it to the Community Regional Medical Center emergency room in Fresno last August. He had pulled a 5½-foot tapeworm from his rectum.

His discovery follows a study in published in the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention journal Emerging Infectious Disease last year said people who eat raw or undercooked wild pink salmon risk an infection from parasites, including tapeworms. Researchers warned that any salmon caught along the Pacific coast of North America may be infected with the parasite, which previously had been believed to have been isolated to Asia.

Emergency room physician Dr. Kenny Banh told KFSN-TV the patient’s request for worm treatment was “not an everyday request” and that he had self-diagnosed his tapeworm, but correctly after experiencing bloody diarrhea.

“And he thinks it’s very odd,” Banh told the television station. “He doesn’t get it until he pulls it out, and then it wiggles and he drops it and is like, oh, it’s a worm.”

Banh said the man’s daily habit of eating sushi and sashimi, was the likely culprit. The tapeworm had likely been growing for at least six months, Banh said, but the patient had eaten at so many sushi restaurants that it was difficult to pinpoint exactly where he might have picked it up. He told the emergency room physician he won’t eat sashimi again.

Eating raw fish of any kind can carry deadly consequences. A Texas woman died of flesh-eating bacteria last fall after eating raw oysters during a vacation along the Louisiana coast, Within 36 hours of shucking and eating about two dozen oysters, the woman developed respiratory distress, a rash on her legs and other symptoms. She died three weeks later.

About 80,000 people contract flesh-eating bacteria, properly known as Vibrio vulnificus, each year, according to the CDC. The illness kills about 100 people a year in the United States, the agency said.

The 2017 article published in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases said Japanese tapeworm, or Diphyllobothrium nihonkaiense, is re-emerging because of the global fish trade and increased popularity of raw fish.

“The study was intended to highlight a new genetic method for identifying differences in two tapeworms. There is no indication that this is a new consumer concern," Dr. Jayde Ferguson, co-author of the original study, said.

The study examined five species of sport-fished salmon and only pink salmon was affected.

Infections are still relatively rare and people with tapeworms generally have vague symptoms like fatigue, constipation and poorly defined abdominal discomfort, according to a study published by the National Institutes of Health. Most people aren’t aware they have an infection until they see evidence of worms in their stool, according to the study.

To protect yourself, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommends that any raw fish eaten should be previously frozen, which dissipates health concerns. Here are three things to know:

• The FDA requires that all seafood is either frozen at -4F for 7 days or cooked to an internal temperature of 140F to effectively kill any parasites.
• Only 6 percent of wild Alaska salmon is released fresh from Alaska, the majority is frozen. The catch is chilled and then commercially frozen in accordance with FDA guidelines, ensuring the seafood is kept at the peak of quality, freshness and safe from bacteria and parasites.
• While parasites like worms can be alarming for consumers, they are a natural part of the lifecycle for wild foods, and can easily be mitigated by proper freezing and cooking techniques.

AP Photo/Seth Wenig