Emerging Infectious Diseases (Mar 2002)

Enzootic Angiostrongylus cantonensis in Rats and Snails after an Outbreak of Human Eosinophilic Meningitis, Jamaica

  • John F. Lindo,
  • Cecilia Waugh,
  • John Hall,
  • Colette Cunningham-Myrie,
  • Deanna Ashley,
  • Mark L. Eberhard,
  • James J. Sullivan,
  • Henry S. Bishop,
  • David G. Robinson,
  • Timothy Holtz,
  • Ralph D. Robinson

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3201/eid0803.010316
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8, no. 3
pp. 324 – 326

Abstract

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After an outbreak in 2000 of eosinophilic meningitis in tourists to Jamaica, we looked for Angiostrongylus cantonensis in rats and snails on the island. Overall, 22% (24/109) of rats harbored adult worms, and 8% (4/48) of snails harbored A. cantonensis larvae. This report is the first of enzootic A. cantonensis infection in Jamaica, providing evidence that this parasite is likely to cause human cases of eosinophilic meningitis.

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