What documented human case reports exist for Eurytrema pancreaticum and where are their primary publications?
Executive summary
Human infections with the pancreatic fluke Eurytrema pancreaticum are rare but documented in the medical literature, primarily from Japan and other parts of East and Southeast Asia; the core primary reports include Ishii et al. describing an autopsy case and several subsequent case reports and imaging-based publications including a modern imaging-focused case in 2019 (Abdominal Radiology) and earlier procedural detections such as an ERCP report in 1986 (Gastroenterological Endoscopy) [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. The canonical autopsy case widely cited in reviews
A frequently cited, early documented human case was reported by Ishii and colleagues in 1983: a 70‑year‑old Japanese woman found at autopsy to harbor about 15 adult Eurytrema pancreaticum flukes in dilated pancreatic ducts; morphological measurements of suckers and embryonated eggs supported species identification in that American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene report [5] [1] [6].
2. Additional modern clinical and imaging case reports
Clinical detection beyond autopsy has been reported: an endoscopic retrograde pancreatography (ERCP)–detected infection was published in 1986 (Matsunaga et al.), and a comprehensive imaging case report published in Abdominal Radiology in 2019 describes a 43‑year‑old man with obstructive jaundice in whom pancreatic eurytremiasis was documented and imaged, representing the first detailed imaging-centered human case description [3] [2] [4] [7].
3. Primary publications and how they were documented
The primary publications that form the backbone of the human-case literature are Ishii et al., “Human infection with the pancreas fluke, Eurytrema pancreaticum” (Am J Trop Med Hyg, 1983) for the autopsy demonstration and morphological confirmation [1] [6], Takaoka et al. and colleagues’ surgical/resection demonstration of adult flukes in a resected pancreas reported in Japanese outlets and referenced in later reviews [4] [8], an ERCP detection reported in Gastroenterological Endoscopy [3], and the 2019 Abdominal Radiology article providing the first comprehensive modern imaging report [2] [4].
4. Geographic pattern, historical notes, and archaeological signals
Most documented human infections come from Japan and neighboring East Asian regions, and reviews and parasitology studies note several reported modern Japanese human cases and archaeological egg finds consistent with Eurytrema in East Asia, suggesting historical exposure where raw or undercooked insect consumption or contaminated offal occurred; these regional patterns appear repeatedly in reviews and parasitology papers [9] [10] [11].
5. What the literature does not show and why that matters
Published case reports are sparse, geographically clustered, and often incidental (autopsy, surgical specimen, or imaging), so rigorous incidence data are lacking; reviews explicitly state there are no published human reports in some regions (for example Brazil) despite veterinary prevalence, and experts have noted an absence of documented cases in North America and Europe in modern literature, emphasizing rarity and likely links to dietary or exposure differences [10] [12].
6. How reporting, reviews and secondary sources frame these cases—and the risk of overreach
Contemporary reviews and molecular studies cite the core clinical reports (Ishii et al., Takaoka et al., Matsunaga et al., the 2019 imaging paper) and use them to contextualize zoonotic potential, but caution that human infection is accidental and rare; recent fact-checking highlights a tendency for social media and some commentators to extrapolate these isolated reports into broad claims (for example, linking E. pancreaticum to widespread diabetes), which specialists dispute and which the primary clinical literature does not support [13] [12].