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According to a new study, a horrible neurological disease spreads through a mixed mollusk of invasive species called semi-slugs.
In total, 82 cases of brain infection, known as rat lungworm, have been detected in Hawaii between 2007 and 2017, according to a new survey conducted by state health officials. d & # 39; Aloha. The study is considered the most complete count of cases reported to date.
The number of victims includes both residents and tourists, and probably underestimates the number of infections, the study indicates, since asymptomatic people may not be reported.
In one case last year, a teenager from New York returned from a family vacation to Hawaii in January and was diagnosed with an illness in mid-March.
The research, published Monday in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, suggests that the infections were probably caused by people ingesting mollusks carrying parasites that are half snail and half slug – a half-slugged k. Researchers say other carriers of rat lungworm include Cuban slugs, giant African snails and slugs.
The disease begins with a parasitic nematode (angiostrongylus cantonensis) that lays eggs inside rats, which rodents then shit. Slugs and snails then eat the contaminated excrement, and rats eat snails and slugs, continuing the cycle and keeping the parasite alive.
According to the Hawaii Epidemic Division, humans can become infected "if they eat (intentionally or unintentionally) an infected intermediate host that is raw or undercooked, thereby ingesting the parasite. warns specifically.
Some of the infected people are asymptomatic, while others suffer from mild discomfort, paralysis and up to – in two documented cases of the period examined by researchers in Hawaii – death.
In 2016, Hawaii set up a task force to fight this life-threatening disease. "There is no specific treatment for this disease so far, so it's crucial to find the best ways to prevent it from spreading and educate the public," said the governor's office at the time.
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