Rat lungworm has a ground zero, Puna.

[Durian Fiend]

quote:

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Originally posted by gypsy69

This article states the RLWorm parasites can live in water for up to 56 days.

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That's a major difference from the 72 hours given by the Hawaii rat lungworm website. I wonder if the article is misquoting her, and instead refers to the longest potential incubation period of the parasite.

[Eric1600]

Since it's the same source, Dr. Susan Javis, I looked further. It appears it hasn't been studied well enough to understand what "Dead" is for the parasite so there is some discussion about when it is "dead" or "no longer able to infect it's host but still alive".

Article quotes Susan Javis 20 days:

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..."They also are evaluating the possibility of RLW larvae transmission in catchment water. They were surprised to discover RLW larvae can live a long time in rainwater." ...

“We have evaluated how well some solutions are at killing RLW larvae,” Jarvi says of the research activity. “We have determined that RLW larvae can live up to 20 days in rainwater, thus could likely live that long in catchment tanks. We determined that RLW DNA can be detected in the blood of infected rats at some time periods throughout infection. We are working on getting antibody-based diagnostic test running on-island.”
http://hilo.hawaii.edu/keaohou/2015/01/14/susan-jarvi/

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80 days based on math model for 100% death rate

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Although, both at RT [room temperature] and 5 ° C, there is a sharp reduction in the number of active larvae in 24 hours, next to 10% of active larvae can be found at days 9 or 10. With the application of mathematical models, 80 days would be the estimated time to inactivate all larvae. This data confirms preliminary experiments showing that after 96 hours of incubation at 5 ° C there were infective larvae8. In this setting, besides being impractical and probably not well-accepted by the population, the refrigeration of vegetables or other undercooked food for several days is not a fully efficacious prophylactic procedure.
http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S003...9000400004&script=sci_arttext

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UH - 72 hours

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Q. Can rat worm larvae survive in the residual dried slime trails of slugs/snails? Example: a slime trail hours-days old?

A study would have to be done to absolutely confirm this, but probably not, especially if the trail was well dried. The parasite has been reported to live in water for up to 72 hours, and could possibly survive in slime under very moist conditions.

Reference: Cheng, T.C. & Alicata, J.E. 1964. Possible role of water in the transmission of Angiostrongylus cantonensis (Nematoda: Metastrongylidae). Journal of Parasitology 50 Section 2: 39-40.

http://pharmacy.uhh.hawaii.edu/rlw/faq.php

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[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Here's a article about the expanding range of rat lungworm on the US mainland. Bad news for California, Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, and elsewhere along the Gulf Coast, but possibly good news for Hawaii if it results in more federal money put toward research and eradication:

When Globalization Brings Brain-Invading Worms

The parasite that causes rat lungworm disease is now endemic in the southeastern United States, and it’s expected to spread northward.
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But a rash of new cases of the disease has people on Maui rattled. There were half-a-dozen confirmed cases of the disease on Maui over a three-month period last spring, three times as many as had been reported in the entire decade up to that point, according to the Maui News.
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...ms/522153/

You could never convince a monkey to give you a banana by promising him limitless bananas after death in monkey heaven.

[Eric1600]

But a rash of new cases of the disease has people on Maui rattled

That should really read:

But a rash of cases of the disease involving tourists has politicians rattled

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

cases of the disease involving tourists has politicians rattled

Not only sad, but true.
We need only look back on the recent dengue outbreak and the difference in response from health officials on Maui and the Big Island, paraphrased as:

Maui: What can we do to help? Do you need a spray truck?
Big Island: Here's a map tracking confirmed cases. Good luck! "You're on your own."

You could never convince a monkey to give you a banana by promising him limitless bananas after death in monkey heaven.

[Durian Fiend]

quote:

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Originally posted by HereOnThePrimalEdge

Here's a article about the expanding range of rat lungworm on the US mainland. Bad news for California, Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, and elsewhere along the Gulf Coast, but possibly good news for Hawaii if it results in more federal money put toward research and eradication..

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Doubtful. Feds are now more concerned with potential threats to national security, rather than actual one such as infectious diseases. Funds to agencies fighting these battles will be cut. [!]

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Feds... concerned with potential threats to national security, rather than... infectious diseases. Funds to agencies fighting these battles will be cut.

Once a semi-slug and snail outbreak is discovered on golf courses across the mainland South & Southwest, as well as links on Maui and Oahu, unlimited funding will magically appear.

You could never convince a monkey to give you a banana by promising him limitless bananas after death in monkey heaven.

[kalakoa]

on golf courses across the mainland South & Southwest, as well as links on Maui and Oahu, unlimited funding will magically appear

Correct: funding will magically appear at resorts and golf courses on the mainland, Maui and Oahu.

[Kenney]

Same with LFA. Find a few in Oahu or Maui and they do free, repeated treatments til they're gone.

I'm sorry people on other islands are getting sick, but it sure has raised awareness in the State. 200+ cases here didn't get much response.
Now that others besides Puna people are sick they can't stop talking about it.

I just hope it's enough to get some funding for public education, prevention, testing and treatment.

[Kenney]

6 more confirmed cases on Maui. 4 residents and 2 tourists. This is fast becoming a Statewide problem, not just Puna's. Will that make a difference in funding, response, research, treatments?

Wishing those sick a speedy and complete recovery.