Rat Lungworm

[ElysianWort]

Never go on a psychedelic trip impersonating a giant, ravenous midnight striking rabbit and go eat fresh greens straight off the kale plant from your garden under the pale moonlight. Wash, wash, wash your veggies and inspect every leaf under good lighting.

[Kelena]

It is very sad that you cannot grow your own leafy greens here, but you really can't (hydroponically)? I went out into my garden one night, turned on the flashlight, saw slimey things and never attempted to grow leafy greens again. I won't even buy leafy greens that are not packaged here. I can effectively wash tomatoes, peppers and peel cucumbers and so forth, but leafy greens are full of crevices and impossible to wash effectively unless submitted to a pre-op scrubbing.

Hawaii needs to take (and should have taken) its invasive species problem more seriously. I find it appalling that there is only one ag inspector for the whole island and no program of any kind that I am aware of to eradicate invasive species.

This is a timely reminder and the comparison of the Ebola hysteria to the more immediate issue of RLD is apt.

[Lodestone]

Is there a more disturbing name for a disease than "Rat Lungworm??

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angiostrong...antonensis

[kalakoa]

there is only one ag inspector for the whole island

Remember: the Department of Ag receives approximately 0.4% of the State budget, which means the priorities have already been (poorly) established.

[DoryGray]

I soak all greens in salt water, that seems to remove any bugs. Some use peroxide. I'm in NorCA now & loving my raw Kale smoothies.

[Kenney]

I was distressed to read the HTH article this week which said that RLW could live in water tanks, so I made some calls.
DOH Epidemiology branch recommends "rat control" since they are the primary vector. They also recommend slug and snail control, which is a bit more complicated in my eyes. I don't know of a way to bait for slugs and snails that won't kill my hens, dogs or cats except maybe the beer bottle method. If anyone has any ideas, I'd be interested. They also recommend chlorinating water tanks regularly. If I remember, the solution is 1 oz. per 1000 gallons, but I'm not sure. Maybe somebody has the booklet that has the exact amount needed to kill Lepto and other nasty things rats carry? I use the "glug glug glug" method, probably overkill, but it works for me.
I've found that rat control can be achieved fairly well with the help of, sorry, poison. We use rat bait stations found on Amazon for around 20$. They are hard to open even for humans, and pets can't get in them. (not even my rat terrier or chows) We are using 3 now. They also have the good "one bite" bait for sale, which we can no longer buy here at Ace or anywhere else for that matter. I believe it was banned for sale here a few years ago. It works. The rats love it.
I was told that UH School of Pharmacology is doing research in to the RLW problem and am waiting to hear from Dr. Susan Javie to see what else she can recommend, especially how to kill the organism in the water tank. The thought of this nasty bug living in my water tank is sickening, even though we don't drink it.
The last recommendation is that we wash all fruits and vegis really well.
The DOH is going to Farmer's Markets now and trying to pass the word, for which I am grateful.
I think it's really important that we keep this subject alive as it will save us a lot of misery if we learn how to live, safely with RLW. I'll post whatever I hear from UH FYI. Stay safe everybody!

[imwithstoopid]

Diatomaceous earth.

Take the time to spread around any place you want protected.
The stuff used in swimming pool filters.

For slugs and snails it is like sliding over ground glass as it cuts them open and they lose the ability to stay slimy and quickly dry out.

Animals leave it alone and it is easy to handle and spread.

One also mentioned beer. I put it in lids and put them at ground level surrounded with the Diatomaceous earth.

Around here we use raised beds using treated 2 x 4s and a semi permeable underlayment with both the outer and inner perimeters covered with the Diatomaceous earth.

Don't be an sesquipedalian, Eschew Obfuscation.....

Sometimes, when I see the neighborhood children make small discoveries of their own, I wish I were a child.
With apologies to Dr. Seuss

[Midnight Rambler]

Snail and slug baits containing iron phosphate are safe to use around pets and other animals. I've had good success in controlling slugs with them for a pretty long time after a single treatment; the pellets do turn to mush in the rain though, so it's best to do it at a time when it's humid and damp (so the slugs are active) but not raining for a few days.

The infectious worms are actually relatively large, about 500 microns long by 25 microns wide. So any sediment filter tighter than 25 should keep out the worms if you're drinking catchment water; typically they're 5 or 10 microns. Of course, you shouldn't be drinking it with only that level of filtration anyway, because all kind of bacteria (including leptospirosis) will still be getting through.

EDIT - apparently a study has been done finding that they do get through a 20 micron filter, which is the minimum recommended. Still, the general point still stands, since most people should be using a 10 micron filter at least if there's no disinfection system, or else a 20+5 with a disinfection system (it's not clear if UV kills the worms like it does bacteria).

[hotinhawaii]

Midnight Rambler is right, the nematodes will be selected out with a filter of 20 microns or smaller. Kay Howe just did research on this topic at UH. She found that the nematodes can live up to a week in the catchment water and they are most concentrated near the bottom of the tank where most water intakes are located. Again, rat population control is the most effective and easiest way to stop the spread of the rat lungworm on your property.

Someone mentioned washing veggies in saltwater to remove bugs. This won't eliminate the threat of consuming rat lungworm along with your veggies. Salt water may kill the slug which carries the rat lungworm inside of it, but the rat lungworm can live on after this. Remember also that immature slugs can be 1mm large and can carry the rat lungworm. I don't know about you but I would have trouble spotting a 1 mm slug in the fold of a kale leaf.

I no longer eat any raw greens from Hawaii. Cooked greens are fine as cooking will kill both the slugs/snails and the rat lungworm.

[Lodestone]

I'm a little unclear... is it only "leafy vegetables" (um, lettuce and cabbage? broccoli?) that need the washing/inspecting? All veggies? Fruits too? After reading the symptoms, I'm paranoid. Paralysis AND brain damage AND blindness AND constant pain? Yeesh!