Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by CoolHand on Wednesday April 12 2017, @09:58PM   Printer-friendly
from the brain-invader dept.

Rat lungworm is an illness caused by the presence of the nematode Angiostrongylus cantonensis in the central nervous system. It is contracted by ingesting insufficiently cooked slugs, snails, or their mucus.

KHON-TV reports that in the U.S. state of Hawai'i, there is an unusual number of new cases of the disease that are associated with the island of Maui. Previously, its incidence in the state had been largely confined to Hawai'i Island, the chain's main or "Big" island.

The Department of Health says so far there are nine confirmed cases of the disease. Four are Maui residents, two are visitors who contracted it on Maui, and three live on Hawaii Island.

State officials are also looking into three possible cases on Maui, and one on Hawaii Island.

An earlier story by the Associated Press via the Chicago Tribune said that

Maui health officials said six cases of rat lungworm disease have been reported on the island over the past three months, while the island has seen only two cases of the disease in the past decade.

[...] State epidemiologist Dr. Sarah Park said there is an average of about 10 rat lungworm cases each year statewide and that the recent spike is concerning. A vast majority of Hawaii's cases are reported on the Big Island.

According to The Atlantic:

Rat lungworm has long been prevalent in parts of Asia and the Caribbean [...] but only recently has it been identified routinely in the United States, including in Hawaii, California, Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, and elsewhere along the Gulf Coast.

[...] One particularly concerning development was the emergence of rat lungworms in Oklahoma, "an area predicted to lack suitable habitat for the parasite[.]"

[...] There's no treatment for the disease [...]. Rat lungworm disease can resolve on its own, once the worms die, but in some cases it is fatal.

Further information:
Hawai'i State Department of Health (PDF; includes tips for avoiding infection)
CDC

Additional coverage:


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2) by butthurt on Thursday April 13 2017, @01:41AM

    by butthurt (6141) on Thursday April 13 2017, @01:41AM (#493195) Journal

    It's not necessarily fatal, but it can cause damage to the brain and spinal cord. It's not just a first world thing, either. From the Wikipedia article:

    Following World War II, A. cantonensis spread throughout Southeast Asia and Western Pacific Islands including Australia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Cases were soon reported in the following nations: New Caledonia, the Philippines, Rarotonga, Saipan, Sumatra, Taiwan and Tahiti. In the 1960s even more cases were reported from the region from locations such as: Cambodia, Guam, Hawaii, Java, Thailand, Sarawak, Vietnam and the New Hebrides (Vanuatu). [...]

    [...]

    [...] infestations have appeared in American Samoa, Australia, Hong Kong, Bombay, Fiji, Hawaii, Honshu, India, Kyushu, New Britain, Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands, Western Samoa and most recently mainland China. Other sporadic occurrences of the parasite in its rat hosts have been reported in Cuba, Egypt, Louisiana, Madagascar, Nigeria, New Orleans and Puerto Rico[.]

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2