Incidence of crayfish-related rhabdomyolysis syndrome in some regions along Yangtze River, 2016

  Objective  To investigate epidemiological characteristics of crayfish-related rhabdomyolysis (RM) syndrome in regions along Yangtze River in 2016.

  Methods  We conducted a field epidemiologic survey on 811 RM cases reported in Anhui, Jiangsu and Hubei province along Yangtze River during 2016 to analyze clinical and prevalence characteristics of the disease.

  Results  Of all the cases, 69.3% were female and 78.1% were aged between 20 and 49 years. Main symptoms of the cases were muscle ache, fatigue and digestive disorder-induced pain; five times increased serum creatine kinase (CK) was detected among 84.0% of the cases. Retrospective surveys found that consumption of crayfish, shrimp offal, and alcohol were risk factors for the incidence of the disease. The incidences occurred mainly at home and the crayfish consumed by the cases were mainly from wild fishing.

  Conclusion  There is a causal correlation between the incidence of rhabdomyolysis syndrome and crayfish in some regions along Yangtze River in 2016, suggesting that monitoring on crayfish eating-related diseases should be strengthened.