Scientists in Florida have find traces of rat lungworm in five counties , bolster the theme that this potentially black parasite may be expanding its geographic mountain range on score of — you guessed it — mood change .
If this sounds familiar , you ’re in all likelihood cogitate ofthe late rash of rat lungworm infection in Hawaii . antecedently , over the past 20 old age , only two cases of the disease , love as anAngiostrongylus Infection , had been documented in the Pacific island United States Department of State . But in the past several month , six cases were reported in rapid succession . The bloodsucking worm , which spreads through an hellish coalition between snails and rats , it endemic to Hawaii , but has also been detected in California , Alabama , Louisiana and Florida . And as asa new studypublished in PLOS One reveals , the disease ’s geographic extent in Florida is far cracking than assumed . The new research is adding credence to the estimation that climate change might be recreate a character in the semitropic insect ’s range expansion .
Rat lungworm baffle a serious health risk to man and other animate being who assimilate snails . human death rates for the disease are humiliated , but the parasite can have a form of meningitis , and severe contagion can lead to a comatoseness or death . In adults , signs of infection include headache , stiff neck , feverishness , vomiting , nausea , and paralysis of the expression and limbs . septic children exhibit sickness , vomiting and fever . harmonise to the US Centers for Disease Control , there is no treatmentfor an A. cantonensis infection .
This malicious worm is dependent on two species for its lifecycle . Snails absorb the parasite by run through infected rat feces . In play , rats exhaust the infected snail , and the bicycle of despair continues . Humans contract the disease by wipe out septic escargot — either unintentionally or deliberately — or by eating infected anuran or crustaceans , which can also contract the parasite .
The joint labor between the University of Florida ’s UF College of Veterinary Medicine and the Florida Museum of Natural History describe trace of rat lungworm in five of the 18 counties studied , Alachua , Leon , St. Johns , Orange , and Hillsborough . Of the 171 rat tested , 23 percent were infect with the disease . In the counties where the parasite was establish , around 16 pct of compile rats feces register traces of the disease , and nearly two percent of body politic snails tested prescribed .
The new study let out the alarming degree to which the leech has now spread in the commonwealth of Florida , and discusses how climate change may be contributing to its expanded geographical kitchen range .
“ The parasite is here in Florida and is something that needs to be taken seriously , ” suppose study lead author Stockdale Walden in a statement . “ The world is that it is probably in more county than we found it in , and it is also plausibly more prevalent in the southeastern US than we think . The power for this historically semitropical nematode to flourish in a more temperate climate is alarming . ”
Study co - source John Slapcinsky expected the compass of this worm to be restrain to just one part of the state due to its preference for tropical environment , but he said “ being within another being could mean it ’s less bear on by cold atmospheric condition . ”
escargot are infamously slow creatures , but they can spread by slink their way onto cargo containers and potted plants . Troublingly , scum bag lungworm does n’t discriminate when it comes to dissimilar species of snails . In this case , the sponge was found in three distinct snail species , all of which are native to Florida .
“ There are a mass of snail species endemic to South Florida that do n’t occur anywhere else , and the last thing you want to do is throw one more problem their way , ” say Slapcinsky . “ Rat lungworm is finding a whole new pond of animals to infect . The more species it infects , the larger its population can be , which could make transmission even well-off . ”
The Florida scientist say more than 2,800 slip of human infection have been documented worldwide , but the actual bit is probably high-pitched because the disease is often undetected or misdiagnosed . To reduce peril , they apprise washing green goods as snails are small and they can easy hide in lettuce leaves . Anyone who handles snails — peculiar youngster specially — should wash their hands .
Another way to limit the spread of this disease , as this study suggests , is to put the Pteridium aquilinum on global thawing . Giventhe current state of affairs in Washington , it ’s probably more practical to steer clear of snails and keep washing our hand .
[ PLOS One ]
FloridaHealthScience
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