Rat Lungworm Disease News and Research

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Angiostrongyliasis or rat lungworm disease is a type of disease that affects the spinal cord and the brain in human beings. Angiostrongylus cantonensis, a parasitic nematode found in rodents, is the root cause of this disease. Snails, slugs, as well as other animals serve as mediators of this parasite and when humans consume such animals, or food and water contaminated by the larvae of the rat lungworm, they get affected by the disease.

A dozen kinds of animals associated with causing rat lungworm disease in humans

A review of decades of research revealed more than a dozen kinds of animals in addition to slugs and snails have caused rat lungworm disease in people around the world.

26 Aug 2022

Study predicts distribution of rat lungworm in the Hawaiian Islands

A recent study by University of Hawai'i at Mānoa researchers revealed that Angiostrongylus cantonensis, the rat lungworm, is widespread in the Hawaiian Islands and its distribution may expand, especially towards higher elevations, as the climate warms.

1 Aug 2018