Quantitative risk assessment of the contamination of Vibrio parahaemolyticus in aquatic products

Objective To estimate the health risk due to the consumption of aquatic productscontaminated by Vibrio parahaemolyticus in Shanghai,and provide the basis for controlof foodborne diseases associated with this pathogen.Methods According to the guidelines provided by Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC),we performed a quantitative microbial risk assessment model with four steps:hazard identification,hazard characterization,exposure assessment and risk characterization.The surveillance data of Vibrio parahaemolyticus concentration in aquatic products from Shanghai during 2011 and 2013 and Shanghai residents'aquatic products consumption data were added in the model.And the parameters were set in this model based on the FAO/WHO scientific literature.A Monte Carlo simulation method was employed to analyze the increase of Vibrio parahaemolyticus concentration in aquatic products from market to table,and quantify the exposure and health risk of Vibrio parahaemolyticus by consuming aquatic products in Shanghai.Results The mean value of probability of infectious illness caused by aquatic products contaminated by Vibrio parahaemolyticus in Shanghai was 1.2×10^-6.That indicated the number of infectious illnesses associated with Vibrio parahaemolyticus in Shanghai might reach 10 746 cases every year based on the population data from Shanghai Statistical Yearbook in 2014.Conclusion There is the certain health risk of suffering from the disease due to the consumption of aquatic products contaminated by Vibrio parahaemolyticus in Shanghai.Decreasing the occurrence of eating raw aquatic products and controlling the temperature and time of aquatic products processing and storage were determined as the critical factors for suppressing foodborne diseases caused by Vibrio parahaemolyticus.