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Source: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-07-china-link-dangerous-foodborne-pathogen.html
Researchers in China link dangerous foodborne pathogen to centipedes
July 30, 2018, American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
A dangerous foodborne parasite typically found in snails and other mollusks was detected in two patients in a Chinese hospital and traced to their consumption of raw wild centipedes, according to a new case report published today by the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
Researchers from the Southern Medical University and Zhujiang Hospital in Guangzhou said it's the first time the Angiostrongylus cantonensis parasite?often called rat lungworm for its preference for the pulmonary arteries of rats?has been detected in centipedes. Centipedes are widely used in traditional Chinese medicine, though usually in a dried or powder form, which does not transmit the parasite.
"We don't typically hear of people eating raw centipedes, but apparently these two patients believed that raw centipedes would be good for their health," said Lingli Lu, a co-author of the report who works in the Department of Neurology in Zhujiang Hospital. "Instead it made them sick."
Mild infections with A. cantonensis may resolve on their own. But the parasite can penetrate the brain and spinal cord, which can lead to meningitis?an infection of the fluid around the brain?and, in rare instances, paralysis and death.
Researchers in China link dangerous foodborne pathogen to centipedes
July 30, 2018, American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
A dangerous foodborne parasite typically found in snails and other mollusks was detected in two patients in a Chinese hospital and traced to their consumption of raw wild centipedes, according to a new case report published today by the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
Researchers from the Southern Medical University and Zhujiang Hospital in Guangzhou said it's the first time the Angiostrongylus cantonensis parasite?often called rat lungworm for its preference for the pulmonary arteries of rats?has been detected in centipedes. Centipedes are widely used in traditional Chinese medicine, though usually in a dried or powder form, which does not transmit the parasite.
"We don't typically hear of people eating raw centipedes, but apparently these two patients believed that raw centipedes would be good for their health," said Lingli Lu, a co-author of the report who works in the Department of Neurology in Zhujiang Hospital. "Instead it made them sick."
Mild infections with A. cantonensis may resolve on their own. But the parasite can penetrate the brain and spinal cord, which can lead to meningitis?an infection of the fluid around the brain?and, in rare instances, paralysis and death.