White Sacs Of Parasites In Our Fish

A health warning about white sacs of parasites in our fish is now circulating on Facebook. It shows a picture of a piece of fish meat with white sacs embedded in the flesh. The white sacs are said to be filled with parasites that could kill you. Check it out!

ATTENTION FISHERS–

If you see this parasite in your fish, THROW THE FISH AWAY!!! The white sacs are full of a milky fluid full of parasites and infest the fish all through the muscle.

This parasite, called henneguya salminicola, does not affect the fishes health until one day it suddenly dies. Definitely wouldn’t suggest eating that fish & risking the same fate…

You’ve been warned!

 

 

The White Sacs Of Parasites

For a better look, we downloaded the larger picture and enhanced it. You can see the multitude of white sacs embedded within this piece of fish meat.

Here is another picture of the same white sacs, this time seen in cut slices of this salmon.

So we know for sure that that first picture was not Photoshopped. These white sacs do appear in fishes.

 

Do They Contain Parasites?

Yes, those white sacs are actually cysts containing a large number of the protozoan parasite Henneguya salminicola. This parasite infects salmon species, particularly in southern British Columbia, Canada. The fish fights against the infection by walling off the parasites in cysts containing a milky white fluid.

 

Are They Dangerous?

Surprisingly, Henneguya salminicola does NOT cause disease in the infected salmon. Even heavily-infected salmon are able to live and spawn normally. The only problem is they cause unsightly cysts in salmon caught for food, which normally results in the salmon being discarded.

Henneguya salminicola is a fish parasite that cannot infect or live in warm-blooded animals, so it pose absolutely no danger if you happen to eat the salmon meat RAW. Cooking infected salmon meat would certainly kill it.

An overview report by scientists at the Pacific Biological Station in Nanaimo, Canada has this to say about the “dangers” of Henneguya salminicola :

It should be stressed that Henneguya, economically deleterious though it is, is harmless from the view of public health. It is strictly a fish parasite that cannot live in or affect warm blooded animals, including man.

So there you have it – as disgusting as these cysts appear, they pose no danger to us if we happen to consume them. Feel free to share this information with your family and friends!