Transmission to humans of rat lungworm disease (angiostrongylus cantonensis) is becoming a serious and growing problem in Hawai'i.

On January 10, 2009 A community meeting was held in the Seaview area of the Big Island to discuss this problem. We will continue to update this folder and in the near future will be including a summary of this meeting.

This folder contains technical papers and web links for information about the the rat lungworm nematode, Angiostrongylus cantonensis, and  roundworms, A. costaricensis, which can cause two distinct syndromes in humans when snails and slugs act as intermediate hosts:

• Rat lungworm (A. cantonensisis) is perhaps the most common cause of eosinophilic meningitis
• Roundworm (A. costaricensis) causes eosinophilic gastroenteritis (abdominal angiostrongylus).
  

Extreme care must be taken with food and water handling to avoid contacting this disease through:

• accidental ingestion of slug or snail parts, flatworms and possibly the slime from slugs or snails.
• water contamination of the nematode in catchment type water systems.

Recently (November/December 2008) three young people have ended up in Hilo Hospital in serious condition.  Other cases over the years have also resulted in hospitalization and many others cases have been reported within the community over the past years. It is a very debilitating disease causing severe pain, extreme weakness and in a number of cases resulted in long lasting symptoms.