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Sorry. There are virtually no internal fish parasites that will live in human hosts and cause physical harm...especially if the fish is frozen or cooked. It is more a matter of esthetics than a health issue unless you eat a lot of raw fish or shellfish. They look nasty, but most gut parasites are removed in the cleaning process and the white grubs in the flesh are usually dead even before freezing or cooking. Just extra protein in a world with food shortages.There are over 50 known types of parasites that humans can catch from fish. It is true that cooking thoroughly will kill them, and somebody who handles fish properly isn't likely to contract them. In many cases, sure, they just look gross and we don't need to worry. However, don't underestimate them. Fish the world over infect people all the time. Most fish parasites use the fish as the primary most, but some parasites use fish as an intermediate host before being picked up by humans, which are then the primary host. And physical harm? Yes in some cases.
Roundworms: (the ones in question in the bluegill) Anisakiasis is caused by anisakid roundworms. Humans are not the primary host for these parasites. Anisakid roundworms infest whales, seals, and dolphins; crabs then ingest roundworm eggs from the feces of these animals. In the crabs, the eggs hatch into larvae that can infect fish. The larvae enter the muscles of marine animals further up the food chain, including squid, mackerel, herring, cod, salmon, tuna, and halibut. Humans become accidental hosts when they eat raw or undercooked fish containing anisakid larvae. The larvae attach themselves to the tissues lining the stomach and intestine, and eventually die inside the inflamed tissue.
In humans, anisakiasis can produce a severe syndrome that affects the stomach and intestines, or a mild chronic disease that may last for weeks or years. In acute anisakiasis, symptoms begin within one to seven hours after the patient eats infected seafood. Patients are often violently sick, with nausea, vomiting,
diarrhea, and severe abdominal
pain that may resemble
appendicitis. In chronic anisakiasis, the patient has milder forms of stomach or intestinal irritation that resemble stomach ulcers or
irritable bowel syndrome. In some cases, the acute form of the disease is followed by chronic infestation.
Tapeworm: Tapeworm infections pose a serious public health problem in many less developed countries due to poor sanitation conditions. The disease is most common where livestock, such as cattle and pigs, are raised in areas where human feces are not disposed of in a sanitary manner.
Another common source of human tapeworms are certain species of freshwater fish. Tapeworm infections tend to occur more frequently in areas of the world where the people regularly eat raw or undercooked beef, pork, or fish. Persons of all ages and both sexes are susceptible to tapeworm infection, but children are generally not exposed until they are old enough to begin eating meat or fish.
Tapeworm infections in humans are less common in industrialized regions of the world, although German public health experts reported in 2003 that the rate of these infections is higher in Europe than the official statistics indicate. Travel to areas where tapeworm infections are more common and immigration of people from these areas serve as new sources of the parasite. Infected persons are often unaware of the presence of adult tapeworms in their intestinal tract, as they may have no obvious symptoms of infection. Some tapeworms can live in an infected person for over 10 years if diagnosis is not made and treatment is not administered.
In addition to the typical infection caused by eating undercooked meat or fish, people may also be directly infected by ingesting tapeworm eggs shed by the adult worm. This type of tapeworm infection can lead to a condition referred to as cysticercosis, in which the larvae continue to develop within tissues other than the intestinal tract. One of the most serious forms of this disease occurs when the tapeworm larvae infect the central nervous system, a disease referred to as neurocysticercosis. In contrast to a typical tapeworm infection, which may not be associated with symptoms, neurocysticercosis is a serious condition that may cause seizures and is potentially life-threatening.
Flukes: Fluke infections are diseases of the digestive tract and other organ systems caused by several different species of parasitic flatworms (Trematodes) that have complex life cycles involving hosts other than human beings. Trematode comes from a Greek word that means having holes and refers to the external suckers that adult flukes use to draw nourishment from their hosts.
Fluke infections are contracted by eating uncooked fish, plants, or animals from fluke-infected waters. Symptoms vary according to the type of fluke infection.
Description
In humans, fluke infections can be classified according to those diseases caused by liver flukes and those caused by lung flukes. Diseases caused by liver flukes include fascioliasis, opisthorchiasis, and clonorchiasis. Cases of liver fluke infection have been reported in Europe and the United States, as well as the Middle East, China, Japan, and Africa. Diseases caused by lung flukes include paragonimiasis. Paragonimiasis is a common infection in the Far East, Southeast Asia, Africa, Central and South America, Indonesia, and the Pacific Islands. It is estimated that between 40 million and 100 million people worldwide suffer from either liver or lung fluke infections.
In their adult stage, liver and lung flukes are symmetrical in shape, ranging between 1/4-1 in in length, and look somewhat like long, plump leaves or blades of grass. They enter through the mouth and can infect any person at any age.
Causes and symptoms
The symptoms of fluke infection differ somewhat according to the type of fluke involved. All forms of liver and lung fluke infection, however, have the following characteristics:
- most persons who get infected do not develop symptoms (asymptomatic)
- the early symptoms of an acute fluke infection are not unique to these diseases alone (nonspecific symptoms)
- infection does not confer immunity against re-infection by the same species or infection by other species of flukes
- infection is usually associated with eating uncooked fish, plants, or animals that live in fresh water
"The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope." ~John Buchan
Bluegill parasites.jpg
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/ Moderator (14531 posts)
. WH2 
. That's just nasty. 
