Seafood consumption has been documented to be a source for which disease in humans?

• A. Cholera and typhoid
• B. Schistosomiasis and mycoplasmosis
• C. Toxoplasmosis and mycoplasmosis
• D. Tuberculosis and anthracosis

Answer: (A)

Seafood can become a vehicle for disease when it comes from waters contaminated with human waste, because shellfish and other filter feeders concentrate pathogens present in the water. Ingesting raw or undercooked contaminated seafood can transmit enteric infections such as Vibrio cholerae, which causes cholera, and Salmonella Typhi, which causes typhoid fever. These two diseases are classic seafood-associated illnesses, especially in outbreaks linked to shellfish from polluted areas.

Other diseases mentioned are not typically acquired from seafood: schistosomiasis is caused by parasitic flukes transmitted via freshwater snails, not through eating seafood; mycoplasmosis is mainly respiratory or urogenital; toxoplasmosis is tied to undercooked meat or cat feces; tuberculosis and anthracosis involve airborne spread or inhalation of dust, not ingestion of seafood.