KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii (AP) - Hawaii health officials say a resident on the Big Island’s east side has contracted rat lungworm disease.
West Hawaii Today reports the state Department of Health confirmed the case through laboratory testing earlier this month, but the person might have become infected as early as February.
Health officials say the person was hospitalized. Officials could not determine the exact location where the person contracted the disease.
The case marks the third that state health officials have confirmed this year.
The disease is caused by a parasitic roundworm. It can affect a person’s brain and spinal cord.
The disease spreads through larvae that’s accidentally ingested when people eat raw freshwater shrimp, land crabs and snails or raw produce that contains infected slugs or snails.
___
Information from: West Hawaii Today, http://www.westhawaiitoday.com
Please read our comment policy before commenting.