02-27-2021, 01:52 AM
Here’s the latest study for rat lungworm. Unfortunately a rainy climate with plenty of vegetation is the ideal environment. We probably already guessed that, but the research does provide details about which snail species are more likely to host the parasite:
“The snail’s capacity to transmit rat lungworm depends on the environment and the host species, as human infection mainly occurs after ingestion of infected snails,” said Rollins.
“The snail’s capacity to transmit rat lungworm depends on the environment and the host species, as human infection mainly occurs after ingestion of infected snails,” said Rollins.
In general, snails from rainy, cool, green sites have higher infection levels than snails from dry, hot sites with less green vegetation. However, rat lungworm prevalence does not increase at the same rate in conjunction with the environment in all snail species. Some species, such as Veronicella cubensis, large brown slugs commonly seen after rain, have very low infection levels in both hot and dry regions and wet and heavily vegetated areas. On the other hand, rat lungworm is more prevalent in giant African snails from wet, cool areas than in hot and dry regions.[img=250x0]https://www.hawaii.edu/news/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/manoa-soest-rat-lungworm-snails-2.jpg[/img]