Latest news with #Angiostrongyluscantonensis
Time of India
a day ago
- Health
- Time of India
Rat lungworm disease alert for dog owners: Here's how to keep your backyard safe for your pet
So here's something that's a little gross but super important for every dog parent to know—rat lungworm disease. It's something your dog could accidentally get just by poking around the backyard. Rat lungworm disease caused by Angiostrongylus cantonensis is a parasite that starts its journey in rats. Rats poop out the larvae (yes, it's as gross as it sounds), and then snails and slugs come along and eat that poop. Then dogs—doing their usual sniffing, licking, and munching—accidentally eat those infected snails or slugs. Sometimes they just lick toys or bowls that had snail slime on them and get infected. Once inside your pup's body, the larvae can make their way to the brain (yikes), causing all sorts of scary neurological problems like paralysis, weird pain responses, and incontinence. It's rare—but when it hits, it hits hard. Should you be worried? Here's the deal: this disease is still considered rare, but experts are seeing more and more cases in recent years—especially in rainy areas where snails and slugs are thriving like it's their personal party. In fact, researchers in Australia looked at dog cases from 2020 to 2024 and found 93 confirmed infections. The year 2022 had a noticeable spike, thanks to—you guessed it—heavier rains and more slimy critters crawling around. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Memperdagangkan CFD Emas dengan salah satu spread terendah? IC Markets Mendaftar Undo What makes this even more important? Dogs are kind of the early warning system for humans. If it's showing up in dogs, it might not be long before people are at risk too. 'There have also been two human deaths from the disease in Australia, including Sydney man Sam Ballard who consumed a slug as a dare in 2010 and reportedly contracted the disease before dying from it in 2018, researchers said,' ABC reported. How does your dog catch it? Honestly, dogs don't have to try that hard. It can happen when they eat a snail or slug while sniffing around the yard, drink water from puddles or bowls that have slug/slime residue, lick their toys or food bowls that have been sitting outside, and accidentally eat contaminated veggies from your garden. In short, they're just being dogs. Signs something's not right The symptoms can be super confusing, so keep an eye out for: Wobbly walking or dragging their hind legs Accidents in the house (urinary incontinence) Weird yelping or flinching at touch Sudden changes in behavior—like being really down, not wanting to eat, or just acting off Vomiting or diarrhea If your pup's showing any of these, don't play the guessing game. Call your vet. How to snail-proof your backyard Okay, you can't bubble-wrap your backyard, but there's a lot you can do to lower the risk: Clear the clutter: Snails and slugs love to hide in wet leaves, piles of wood, or long grass. Clean that stuff up. Keep things tidy: Wash outdoor food and water bowls, toys, or anything else your dog might mouth off. Control rats: No one wants to deal with this, but securing your garbage and keeping food scraps out of the yard can help keep rats away. Watch what they eat: Be that annoying dog parent who's always yelling 'drop it!' when your dog mouths something gross. Be mindful during walks: Slugs love sidewalks after it rains—keep your dog away from slimy trails or puddles. Don't panic—but do pay attention Rat lungworm disease sounds like a nightmare, but the good news is it's still rare, and it's totally preventable if you stay alert. A little yard hygiene and a lot of nosey dog-parenting can go a long way. And if you ever feel like something's off with your dog—especially if they're acting different or having trouble walking—trust your gut and call your vet. Early treatment can make all the difference. One step to a healthier you—join Times Health+ Yoga and feel the change
The Age
2 days ago
- Health
- The Age
Deadly ‘rat lungworm' on the rise in Sydney, experts warn
Infections by a parasitic worm carried by rats, snails and slugs that can cause lethal brain infections in humans are increasing in dogs on Australia's east coast, a Sydney study has found. Rat lungworm is an extremely rare but potentially fatal disease caused by larvae of the parasite Angiostrongylus cantonensis, which is found naturally in feral rats after it spread to Australia from South-East Asia. Infection causes dangerous inflammation in the brain. 'In dogs and humans the parasite enters the brain, but rather than progressing to the lungs like it does in rats, it is killed in the brain by our own immune response,' said Phoebe Rivory, who has submitted her PhD thesis on the disease to the Sydney School of Veterinary Science. 'It is that overt immune response that causes severe headaches and sensations.' Dogs and humans are considered accidental hosts but infection can be disastrous. At least two people have died from rat lungworm, including Sam Ballard, who ate a slug as a dare in 2010. The Sydney man contracted the parasite and entered a coma for 420 days; he emerged from it with severe brain injuries before he died in 2018. The researchers analysed five years of data and discovered 93 cases of rat lungworm in dogs around Sydney and Brisbane. There has been an increasing number of cases since 2010, 'suggesting escalating human health threats', they write in The Journal of Infectious Diseases. live in Sydney.
Sydney Morning Herald
2 days ago
- Health
- Sydney Morning Herald
Deadly ‘rat lungworm' on the rise in Sydney, experts warn
Infections by a parasitic worm carried by rats, snails and slugs that can cause lethal brain infections in humans are increasing in dogs on Australia's east coast, a Sydney study has found. Rat lungworm is an extremely rare but potentially fatal disease caused by larvae of the parasite Angiostrongylus cantonensis, which is found naturally in feral rats after it spread to Australia from South-East Asia. Infection causes dangerous inflammation in the brain. 'In dogs and humans the parasite enters the brain, but rather than progressing to the lungs like it does in rats, it is killed in the brain by our own immune response,' said Phoebe Rivory, who has submitted her PhD thesis on the disease to the Sydney School of Veterinary Science. 'It is that overt immune response that causes severe headaches and sensations.' Dogs and humans are considered accidental hosts but infection can be disastrous. At least two people have died from rat lungworm, including Sam Ballard, who ate a slug as a dare in 2010. The Sydney man contracted the parasite and entered a coma for 420 days; he emerged from it with severe brain injuries before he died in 2018. The researchers analysed five years of data and discovered 93 cases of rat lungworm in dogs around Sydney and Brisbane. There has been an increasing number of cases since 2010, 'suggesting escalating human health threats', they write in The Journal of Infectious Diseases. live in Sydney.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Woman's Mysterious Burning Feet Traced to Worms in Her Brain
A 30-year-old woman in the United States was told by doctors she had parasites in her brain after presenting to the hospital with a burning sensation in her feet. The worms seem to have been unlucky souvenirs the woman unknowingly picked up while traveling in Thailand, Japan, and Hawaii. Embedded in her central nervous system, the quiet invaders didn't 'make a peep' until 12 days after the woman had returned home. Only then did their presence cause an intense immune response that took a further week to diagnose. Over several days, hot pain in the woman's feet crawled up her legs, trunk, and arms, before erupting in a splitting headache that even frequent doses of pain relief medication couldn't alleviate. An initial visit to the emergency department turned up only a mild increase in disease-fighting white blood cells. But after days of unrelenting discomfort and a mild fever, the woman returned to a different hospital looking for answers. Following treatment with intravenous anti-inflammatories and an anti-anxiety medication called lorazepam, her headache finally abated and she was discharged. Once again, the symptoms persisted. The next morning, when the woman woke, she began to pack for a vacation that she had not planned. Her roommate noticed her strange behavior and encouraged her to lie back down in bed. Hours later, when the woman was still showing signs of confusion, her partner took her to hospital. "The development of confusion in this patient with sensory symptoms, headache, and possible intermittent fever suggests the possibility of encephalitis and further increases concern about a central nervous system infection," explains infectious disease specialist Joseph Zunt from the University of Washington. Testing her blood, her doctors found no sign of parasites, and a CT scan of her head showed no red flags beneath her skull. Yet when medical staff performed a lumbar puncture, they found the patient's cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), which bathes the brain and spinal cord, contained markers of eosinophilic meningitis – a rare form of brain infection that can be caused by parasites. Based on the patient's recent travel and her symptoms, her doctors agreed she met the criteria for a presumptive diagnosis of angiostrongyliasis. This insidious disease is also known as rat lungworm because it is caused by the parasite Angiostrongylus cantonensis, which starts its life cycle in the lungs of a rodent before spreading to slugs and snails. Most people aren't eating uncooked slugs or snails, but if we bite into a fresh, leafy vegetable that one of these creatures has slimed, the parasite's larvae can end up in our bodies without us knowing it. That's one of the reasons why washing green produce is so important when staying in parts of the world where rat lungworm spreads, including Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands, and Australia. Undercooked crab or prawns can also be a vector, as these animals eat slugs and snails, too. When the parasites infect human bodies, they can migrate to the pulmonary arteries, swimming into the central nervous system and threatening the life of the host. Only occasionally are the larvae able to be seen in the brain for a definitive diagnosis. Usually, brain scans only hint at damage from these parasites. The image below, for instance, shows clear signals of lesions in parts of a 32-year-old's brain that are indicative of angiostrongyliasis. Thankfully, the woman in the US had her brain saved from parasites by a two-week course of drugs that can cross the blood-brain barrier to treat angiostrongyliasis. The patient was also given a high dose of a steroid called prednisone to help alleviate inflammation in her brain. Her symptoms abated with the combination treatment, and on her sixth day in hospital, she was able to go home – this time without hidden passengers in her brain. The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. World's Most Common Painkiller During Pregnancy Linked to ADHD Female Physicians Are Dying by Suicide at Astonishingly High Rates Study Finds Humans Age Faster at 2 Sharp Peaks – Here's When
Miami Herald
21-02-2025
- Health
- Miami Herald
Woman has burning sensation in legs after vacation — then doctors find brain parasites
After a three-week-long vacation through Thailand, Japan and Hawaii, a 30-year-old woman learned she brought home an unwelcome souvenir, doctors said. When the woman first returned home to the coast of New England, she felt fatigued and attributed it to jet lag from weeks of traveling, according to a Feb. 13 case report published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Her lack of energy was accompanied by a slight burning sensation in her feet, according to the case report, and she took some ibuprofen to help alleviate the pain. The medications were unsuccessful, and over the next eight days, the burning sensation spread up her body into her legs, doctors said. The pain got worse when her legs were touched, according to the report, and she went to the emergency room. Burning spreads to the chest The woman went through a series of tests — she had a normal temperature, heart rate, blood pressure and blood oxygen saturation — and she was sent home with instructions to follow up with her primary care physician, doctors said. But over the next three days, the burning feeling spread up to her chest and arms and she developed a headache that wouldn't wane even with over-the-counter pain medication, according to the report. The woman went back to the emergency room, but again showed normal tests, so she was given intravenous pain medications that helped her still-pounding headache and was sent home with the same instructions, doctors said. 'After the patient arrived home from the emergency department, she took zolpidem ((a drug for insomnia) which had been prescribed for a family member) to help with sleep. On the day of the current presentation, confusion developed,' doctors said. 'In the morning when she awoke, she thought she needed to pack for vacation and was not redirectable when her roommate attempted to help her lie back down in bed. When confusion did not resolve after several hours, the patient's partner brought her to this hospital for further evaluation.' Sushi, street food-filled vacation Then, doctors learned more about her trip. In Bangkok, Thailand, she toured the city and stopped for street food along the way, but said she didn't eat anything raw, according to the report. Her next stop was Tokyo, Japan, where she said she mainly stayed in the hotel, but ate sushi throughout her stay. The majority of her trip was spent in Hawaii swimming in the ocean and eating salads and sushi. Her newly developed confusion led doctors to try new tests, including a lumbar puncture, a procedure that taps into the spine to test the cerebrospinal fluid, according to the report. The fluid underwent a diagnostic test, and finally the woman had an answer — she had parasites in her brain. Doctors discovered Angiostrongylus cantonensis, a parasitic species of roundworm also called rat lungworm. An A. cantonensis infection can lead to human eosinophilic meningitis, which the woman was experiencing. 'Human infection, which was initially described in Taiwan, is now distributed across many tropical and subtropical regions in southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands (including Hawaii), with expanding distribution that now includes locally acquired infections in Europe, Australia, the southern United States and the Caribbean,' doctors said. 'Only five cases of angiostrongyliasis were confirmed in Hawaii in 2024; however, given that 9 to 10 million tourists visit Hawaii each year, many people may have been exposed to infection but may not have symptoms until after they leave Hawaii.' The infection can come from a few sources: raw or undercooked snails or slugs, vegetables or fruit that have been contaminated by snails, slugs or flatworms or their slime, or by eating infected hosts like land crabs, freshwater prawns or frogs, doctors said. It can take as many as 14 days after the parasites are ingested for symptoms to begin, according to the report. Symptoms usually begin as headache, nausea, vomiting and fever, but then can spread to neurological symptoms after the parasite leaves the bloodstream, enters muscle, migrates to peripheral nerves and into the spinal column and brain, doctors said. The woman was treated with a directed therapy of medications — albendazole, prednisone, gabapentin and amitriptyline — and her headache and burning sensation went away, doctors said. She was able to return home after six days in the hospital to recover. The medical team includes Joseph Zunt, Amy K. Barczak and Daniel Y. Chang.
