HONOLULU — A California couple on their honeymoon and two people who drank a homemade herbal beverage are among the rising number of victims in Hawaii falling ill with a potentially deadly brain parasite.
After the newlyweds’ plight with rat lungworm disease recently got attention online, the couple and some experts accused Hawaii of failing to adequately warn tourists and residents of the danger they can face. Tourism officials say the disease is rare and there’s no need to cancel vacation plans.
“It never occurred to us that our honeymoon would be two weeks in paradise to return home with worms in our brains,” Ben Manilla of San Francisco said in an email after spending a month in the hospital, undergoing several operations and suffering complications.
Hawaii has seen the same number of infections so far this year that it will often get annually. Eleven cases have been confirmed — six on Maui and five on the Big Island.
The reason for the “concerning increase” is not clear, said Dr. Virginia Pressler, director of the state health department. But it could be blamed on a recent Maui influx of a semi-slug that can carry the disease.
A roundworm parasite found in rodents causes the disease affecting the brain and spinal cord. When rodents expel the larvae of the worm, they can be ingested by snails, slugs, crabs and frogs, then passed to people.
Symptoms can range from mild headaches to temporary paralysis, and diagnosis requires a spinal tap, said William L. Gosnell, program director for the graduate certificate in tropical medicine at University of Hawaii’s medical school.