There has been three cases that were newly confirmed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the affected three adult travelers are from mainland United States. All five of the cases this year were contracted on Hawaii Island, also called the Big Island. It is one of the several islands in the state of Hawaii.
Angiostrongyliasis is a disease that is caused by a parasitic infection, which is often mild and goes undetected. However, rat lungworm can also cause effects on a person's spinal cord and brain, according to the CDC. The symptoms vary, the most common symptoms are neck stiffness and severe headaches. The most serious cases experience severe pain and long-term disability and neurological problems.
It is unknown when the exact moment of infection occurred for each of the three newly confirmed Hawaii cases, though one member said that they ate a lot of homemade salads while they were on vacation, while the other said he ate unwashed raw fruits, vegetables and other plants that were straight from the land, according to the Department of Health.
Last year, there were a total of 10 confirmed cases of rat lungworm infection, they became sick after eating a slug on a dare, according to the Department of Health. Most of them became ill by accidentally ingesting a snail or a slug that was infected with the parasite.
The illness lasts between two weeks to two months, and on average, the incubation period is one to three weeks. However, an infection can incubate in only one day or in six weeks. Heather Stockdale Walden, an assistant professor of parasitology at the University of Florida, previously told CNN that rat lungworm disease has been endemic in Hawaii for at least 50 years.
"The parasite can fully mature in rats. Garden-variety slugs and snails, which eat rat feces, can serve as intermediate hosts, allowing the parasite to grow to a stage where it's capable of causing infection, though never to full adulthood (and so never capable of reproduction). When the parasite gets into a human, it can get lost, and in some cases go to the brain."Walden explained.
In such cases, meningitis can be the result, it is the swelling of the thin membrane covering the brain and the spinal cord. The ingested parasite can also move to the eye and you can get ocular angiostrongylus. Surgical removal may be necessary in these cases. Patients develop mild illness and simply get better on their own in some cases. It is also important to note that people who have rat lungworm disease are not contagious.
"It's important that we ensure our visitors know the precautions to take to prevent rat lungworm disease," Hawaii Health Director Bruce Anderson said in a statement.