McVicar A H
Marine Laboratory, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK.
Parassitologia. 1997 Sep;39(3):177-81.
The difficulties in interpreting the biological significance of pollutants in the marine environment led to the recognition that natural indices reflecting chemical and physical changes are required. The close interaction between host, disease (including parasites) and environment indicates that change in disease patterns offers considerable potential as a natural monitoring system in this field. This problem was addressed by the Working Groups of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) in the early 1980s. Since then, a series of studies have provided internationally agreed recommendations on appropriate diseases to monitor, on sampling strategies and on guidelines for diagnosis, identification and data reporting. Research in Scottish waters has shown that parasites with complex life cycles and intermediate stages which are vulnerable to pollution can give a good indication of the dispersion of pollution from a point source. However, without good knowledge of the spatial, biological and temporal variations in the occurrence of fish diseases due to natural events, there are significant dangers in the interpretation of observed differences in disease as being pollution associated. As a general rule, it is probable that trends in disease differences will be of more use in environmental quality monitoring than would be differences in absolute levels of infection between different areas.
解读海洋环境中污染物的生物学意义存在困难，这使得人们认识到需要反映化学和物理变化的自然指标。宿主、疾病（包括寄生虫）与环境之间的密切相互作用表明，疾病模式的变化作为该领域的自然监测系统具有巨大潜力。20世纪80年代初，国际海洋考察理事会（ICES）的工作组解决了这个问题。从那时起，一系列研究就监测哪些合适的疾病、采样策略以及诊断、识别和数据报告指南提供了国际认可的建议。在苏格兰海域的研究表明，具有复杂生命周期和易受污染的中间阶段的寄生虫能够很好地指示点源污染的扩散情况。然而，如果不充分了解自然事件导致的鱼类疾病发生情况在空间、生物学和时间上的变化，就将观察到的疾病差异解读为与污染相关存在重大风险。一般来说，疾病差异趋势在环境质量监测中可能比不同区域感染绝对水平的差异更有用。
