Ruolo dei mercati ittici quali osservatori epidemiologici per il monitoraggio di malattie zoonosiche, infettive, parassitarie, neoplastiche e tecnopatie a tutela del consumatore, della qualità dei prodotti, della salute animale e dell’ambiente

The study was conducted over the three-year period 2019-2022 and aimed to demonstrate the role of fish markets as an epidemiological observatory through the highlighting of zoonotic, diffusive infectious, parasitic, neoplastic, and technopathic diseases with particular regard to freshwater species   from a One Health perspective. This was done through necropsy evaluations, on a random basis, with the aim of enucleating the possible usefulness of the results of "raw material" controls by FBOs, as well as, potentially, creating feedback between the Competent Authority of Official Control and FBOs of the entire fish chain, not unlike what is currently provided in the meat sector. Sampling took place at the Milan Fish Market, a reference market in Italy and the European Union. A total of 930 individuals belonging to 18 freshwater species including anadromous and catadromous species, on sale at the market and present at the time of the inspection, were sampled. In addition, following the finding of a nematode in the heart of a swordfish an additional 364 individuals from FAO 27.IX and FAO 34 were sampled. From what emerged from this study it was possible to highlight many elements, including: the prevalence of "visible" parasites (as indicated in Reg. (EC) 2074/2005) in freshwater and anadromous fish present in the Milan fish market (4.7%), even by single species, during the period considered; the finding of Triaenophorus nodulosus, a cestode that we are not yet aware of in the Lake Bolsena reservoir in pike (Esox lucius); the intracardiac localization of the parasite Hysterothylacium incurvum in swordfish (Xiphias gladius) fished in the Central and Eastern Atlantic Ocean in Portuguese waters, not yet described with this particular localization; the prevalence of Eustrongylides for perch species in Lake Garda and Big-scale sand smelt in Lake Trasimeno, as well as the finding of pathophysiological alterations and their prevalence and origins. All that was found provided valuable elements to be able to consider the epidemiological role of fish markets as "strategic."   Pathophysiological alterations of different nature and technopathologies were identified. Depending on the type of finding, collateral examinations such as parasitological, histological, microbiological, and molecular examinations were conducted. The results of this investigation suggest that a thorough autopsy examination, possibly strengthened by simple analytical appeals, conducted on a sample basis, may be repayable for the greater protection of public health, environmental health, and aquatic organisms themselves, in full One Health perspective.