Health officials have confirmed three more cases of rat lungworm disease in adults who visited Hawaii, according to Hawaii's Department of Health.
The newly confirmed cases were unrelated and the adults were infected with the parasite causing rat lungworm disease months apart from one another.
Rat lungworm disease, or angiostrongyliasis, is caused by a parasitic roundworm and can have a debilitating impact on an infected person's brain and spinal cord. In Hawaii, most people become infected by accidentally eating a snail or slug that has the parasite, the Hawaii Department of Health stated.
One of the newly confirmed cases involved a person who visited in December 2018 and purposely ate a slug on a dare, health officials said. That individual got sick, but was not hospitalized. It brought the statewide total to 10 confirmed cases in 2018.
The other two new cases confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention occurred earlier this year. One person got sick in January, and while it's not clear how they were infected, the individual said they remembered eating many homemade salads while vacationing in Hawaii.
According to state health officials, the other individual became ill in late February 2019 and likely got infected when eating unwashed raw fruits, veggies or other plants "straight from the land."
So far this year, five people in Hawaii have been infected with rat lungworm. Each one contracted the parasite on Hawaii Island, also known as the Big Island.
The director of Hawaii's Department of Health said in a release that they recognize there is more work to be done in educating residents and visitors and making sure they know how to prevent the spread of this disease."
A person infected with rat lungworm can not infect another person, according to the CDC, and some show no symptoms or only mild symptoms that don't last very long. But sometimes it can cause a rare form of meningitis impacting the brain and spinal cord.
To reduce the chances of getting rat lungworm while in Hawaii, the state department of health offered the following recommendations:
- Wash all fruits and vegetables under clean, running water to remove any tiny slugs or snails. Pay close attention to leafy greens.
- Control snail, slug, and rat populations around homes, gardens and farms.
- Inspect, wash and store produce in sealed containers, regardless of whether it came from a local retailer, farmer's market, or backyard garden.
