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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.
