BRAIN INVADING WORM, FLORIDA INFESTED
Have you ever heard of lungworm? Brain worm is a better name! But that’s because this parasite invades your brain. And lungworm is now all over the state of Florida. Thanks to climate change, we now see Florida infested. Surprising researchers, they found the untreatable parasite’s presence across most of the state. How do you catch lungworm? By eating snails, and some other things. Read on!
LUNG WORM IS UNTREATABLE, BRAIN INVADING WORM
There was a recent jump in lungworm cases in Hawaii. It was thought that this was due to increased globalization and mass retain shipping. Hawaii has had lungworm infection cases occasionally the last 20 years. But six Hawaiians were infected this year in a matter of months. So be warned, lungworm cases have also hit in California, Alabama, Louisiana and now Florida. But Florida could face a crisis pretty soon if people aren’t careful.
HAZARDOUS INFECTION STARTS IN RATS LUNGS
Everything about lungworm is disgusting. It’s a parasitic nematode that starts out as an infection in rat’s lungs, blood and brains. Then the rats crap out worm larvae that infect snails, slugs and even freshwater shrimp. Then a person eats an infected snail. Or they eat a fish that ate an infected snail. Think about that. This untreatable brain invading worm can infect anyone.
MENINGITIS, DEATH A REAL RISK OF BRAIN INVADING WORM
Once lungworm is in the brain it can cause meningitis! Meningitis is often fatal. This is scary, scary stuff. Lungworm is all over Florida, we now know. It could be only a matter of time before we hear of human infections. A new study published by PLOS One details the joint project undertaken by the University of Florida’s UF College of Veterinary Medicine and the Florida Museum of Natural History.
FLORIDA INFESTED, THANKS TO CLIMATE CHANGE
23 percent of tested rats tested positive for lung worm. Researchers found those rats in 5 out of the 18 counties they tested. But only 16 percent of rat poo showed the disease, with only 2 percent of land snails also infested. Yet no one expected to find lungworm like this in Florida. This is a new trend. Lungworm will start infecting people in Florida soon. Lungworm now infests Florida, and it’s a new beginning. But is it just Florida?
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BRAIN INVADING WORM COULD BE EVEN MORE WIDESPREAD
“The parasite is here in Florida and is something that needs to be taken seriously,” said study lead author Stockdale Walden. “The reality is that it is probably in more counties than we found it in, and it is also probably more prevalent in the southeastern US than we think. The ability for this historically subtropical nematode to thrive in a more temperate climate is alarming.”
So, don’t touch slugs or snails. And if you find one in your lettuce, be sure to wash the lettuce, and your hands, as if your life depended on it.