Prevalence of Laribacter hongkongensis in food and environmental matrices: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Laribacter hongkongensis is a human pathogen harboured in food and environmental matrices. This present study aimed to meta-analysed the prevalence of L. hongkongensis in humans, aquatic products, food/non-food animals, and environmental waters to provide update information on the pathogen. Nine electronic databases were systematically searched for articles on L. hongkongensis and a random-effects-model meta-analysis on its prevalence was conducted. Assessment of heterogeneities and publication biases across the studies was determined by using the I2 statistic and Egger's regression/rank correlation tests of funnel plot, respectively. Furthermore, a meta-regression model was explored to unravel factors influencing the prevalence. A total of 39 documents were identified, of which, 33 articles were included as 98 sub-studies for the meta-analysis, and 87 sub-studies for subgroup-analysis. Overall, the prevalence of L. hongkongesis in human, aquatic products, food/non-food animals, and environmental waters was 8.5% (95% CI: 5.8–11.7). The leave-one-out influence analysis yielded a pooled prevalence of L. hongkongensis ranging from 8.1% (95% CI: 5.4–11.3) – 8.8% (95% CI: 5.8–12.3). Sub-group analysis found that the prevalence of L. hongkongensis was highest in Amphibian (54.6%, 95% CI: 41.3–67.6), followed by Pisces (7.9%, 95% CI: 5.3–10.9), Avian (0.5%, 95% CI: 0–5.8), and Mammal (0.5%, 95% CI: 0–3.6). In addition, Egger's regression-test of funnel plot suggests presence of publication (z = 4.2, p Pisces > avian.•Aquatic products and aquatic milieu are essential sources of the pathogen.