Frequency of Occurrence of the Rat Lungworm Parasite in the Invasive Island Apple Snail in South Carolina, USA

Abstract

The rat lungworm Angiostrongylus cantonensis is a nematode parasite that can cause potentially fatal eosinophilic meningitis in humans. The life cycle of A. cantonensis involves multiple hosts, with the most common terminal hosts being rodents and intermediate hosts comprising gastropods. One such gastropod is the invasive island apple snail Pomacea maculata, which is native to South America but is currently established in several states in the USA, including South Carolina. It has been identified as an intermediate host for A. cantonensis in several locations in Louisiana. The ability of the island apple snail to serve as an intermediate host for A. cantonensis poses significant potential threats to human health, yet no studies to date have determined the prevalence of this parasite in island apple snails in South Carolina. The objective of this study was to investigate the frequency of occurrence of A. cantonensis in South Carolina island apple snails by using a real‐time PCR assay. One‐hundred individuals from each of three distinct stormwater retention ponds were tested, and no positive detections were found. Determining the prevalence of A. cantonensis in island apple snails is critical in accurately informing the public as to the risks involved in handling and/or consuming island apple snails.

Excretory/secretory products of Angiostrongylus cantonensis fifth-stage larvae induce endoplasmic reticulum stress via the Sonic hedgehog pathway in mouse astrocytes

“…This disease is considered to be an endemic disease in Southeast Asia and Pacific islands [3,4]. Recently, human cerebral angiostrongyliasis has become an emerging disease in many parts of the world, including China, Taiwan, Thailand, the USA, including Hawaii, Brazil and the Caribbean islands, including Jamaica [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. Moreover, infections have been recently reported in more than 30 countries [4].…”