The risk assessment of Vibrio parahaemolyticus in cooked black tiger shrimps (Penaeus monodon) in Malaysia

A microbiological risk assessment was conducted on Vibrio parahaemolyticus in order to estimate the risk of getting infected by consuming cooked shrimps (Penaeus monodon) for Malaysians. This study was based on the risk assessment framework developed by the Codex Alimentarius Commission. The risk estimate was calculated by using the data generated from this study and assumptions based on data taken from reports produced by the Ministry of Health Malaysia and from other studies. The @RISK software package, version 4.5 (2005 Palisade USA) in combination with Microsoft® Excel were used to run the simulations. All of the calculations were performed by the Monte Carlo method of simulations from specified input distributions and appropriately combining the sampled values to generate the corresponding output distributions. All simulations, consisting of 10,000 iterations were undertaken. The estimated illness per year was 123 people (aged from 18 to 59 years) for Malaysians. The 90% of distribution of illness due to the consumption of cooked shrimps lies between 49 and 197 cases per year. The incidence rate of illness/100,000 population/year (aged between 18 and 59 years) is 1.3 while 90% distribution lies between 0.5 and 2. In the case of shrimp that were cooked during meal preparation, the hazard has been significantly reduced. It is important to pay attention to temperature control during harvesting and post-harvest handling. It is also required to prevent cross-contamination during handling and preparation of shrimps and adequate cooking before consumption.