Opisthorchiasis: An Overlooked Danger

Abstract

A group of helminth infections, caused by liver flukes of the trematode family Opisthorchiidae, were recently the focus of discussions at a meeting where scientists from Russia, Southeast Asia, Europe, and the United States came together in Tomsk city in Western Siberia (Russia) to form a Tomsk OPIsthorchiasis Consortium (TOPIC). This initiative starts a platform to raise awareness, to strengthen integrated control, and to conduct research on a neglected infectious disease that afflicts populations not only in the tropical regions of East Asia but also in temperate and semi-arctic areas of Europe and Asia