Stressed snails and slugs leaving trails of slime on food produce could infect humans with rat lungworm disease, according to a study out of the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa on Monday.
Rat lungworm is a disease that affects the brain and spinal cord. Researchers say it can be fatal to humans in extreme cases. The parasitic adults are often found in rodents, which pass larvae to snails and slugs.
Humans can contract the parasite accidentally by eating contaminated produce or undercooked snails or slugs.
The study, published in One Health, found that the gastropods release rat lungworm larvae in their slime when exposed to stress.
Researchers surveyed 196 snails, or Parmarion martensi, collected on Oʻahu. They tested various stressors, including heat, patricide and physical disturbance.
Only a little over 100 snails could be studied due to some dying or not being infected with the parasite. Of the 105 infected, stressed snails, larvae were found in 14 — or 13.3%.
Randi Rollins is a UH Mānoa's Pacific Biosciences Research Center researcher. She said infection can be prevented by thoroughly washing produce and wearing gloves when handling snails or slugs.
"Although the number of larvae you would have to ingest to cause illness is unknown, the numbers present in slime may be sufficient, as snails release tens, hundreds or thousands of larvae," said Rollins in Monday news release. "However, the larvae cannot survive desiccation (removal of moisture), so snail slime will not be a risk after it dries."
She also said that the parasite is no longer infectious once the larvae are dried up.
