Ascaris lumbricoides found in ashore corpses from Korean peninsula to Japan

Yearly, several reports of unknown boats and corpses brought by the Tsushima Current are found ashore Japanese coast. Niigata prefecture had the highest number of the drifting ashore corpses in Japan with 45.7% (16/35) in 2017. Corpses from North Korea, confirmed by documents and photos were autopsied and in 3/16 was possible to recover worms full of eggs, morphologically identified as ascarids. Further molecular analysis of ITS1, 5.8S rDNA and ITS2 sequences confirmed all specimens were Ascaris lumbricoides. The contamination level by Ascaris lumbricoides eggs in the coast, the health impact and consequences of the epidemiological bridging produced by this forced migration in public health should be investigated. Moreover, control of helminthiases might be a necessary task in North Korea. [Display omitted] •Increased number of boats and corpses ashore Niigata in Japan occurred in 2017.•Autopsies found internal parasites from bodies with North Korean origin.•Nematodes found revealed to be Ascaris lumbricoides by DNA sequencing.•Forced migration events and epidemiology of soil transmitted helminths are points to concern.