-Caveat Lector- From http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_1845000/1845073.stm
}}}>Begin Thursday, 28 February, 2002, 10:58 GMT Tourists catch meningitis worm The tourists were visiting Jamaica A rare form of meningitis caused by worm infestation - normally associated with east Asia - was picked up by tourists in Jamaica. The New England Journal of Medicine reported how the group of 12, from the US, fell ill after visiting the Caribbean. It is thought they got infected by eating unwashed salad in a restaurant there. Meningitis is normally linked to bacterial or viral infection - it refers simply to symptoms caused by inflammation of the membrane surrounding the brain, rather than the cause. The culprit here was the worm Angiostrongylus cantonensis - also known as the rat lungworm. A rat infested with the worms will produce eggs which hatch out in the lungs - young larvae are then passed out in the lungs. They can survive for up to two weeks in water. To survive, they must infect a snail or slug, inside which they mature further and become infectious to humans. If humans eat anything carrying slime from these molluscs, then they are at risk. The larvae then burrow through the gut wall, and are carried around the bloodstream until they reach the central nervous system. They then congregate in the spinal cord and brain, eventually reaching the membrane surrounding it. Each is half a centimetre long - and a major infection may involve thousands. Symptoms This causes typical meningitis symptoms such as severe headache, back and neck stiffness, aversion to bright lights, nausea, vomiting and vertigo. If the patient has eaten large numbers of worms - perhaps from consuming an infected snail - then the infection can be serious, and may even result in death. Nine of the 12 patients affected had to be hospitalised because of the infection, but all made a full recovery. Investigators could not track down the exact source of the outbreak - but feel it could be a Caesar salad eaten by all of the patients at a restaurant on the island. Rat infestation This theory was supported by the fact that the worm was found in rats caught on Jamaica. It comes as a slight surprise, as the majority of cases are associated with south east Asia and the Pacific Basin - and the report warned that doctors and health officials should be on the lookout for more cases throughout the Caribbean, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and even parts of the southern US such as New Orleans. Angiostongylus expert Dr George Joshua, from the London School of Tropical Hygiene and Medicine, said: "If you consume a large number of parasites, it can be serious. "Pretty much every human case is associated with eating snails, but if an affected mollusc crawled about on your salad, you could get it like that." End<{{{~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Forwarded as information only; no endorsement to be presumed + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe simply because it has been handed down for many generations. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is written in Holy Scriptures. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of Teachers, elders or wise men. Believe only after careful observation and analysis, when you find that it agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all. Then accept it and live up to it." The Buddha on Belief, from the Kalama Sutta + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + A merely fallen enemy may rise again, but the reconciled one is truly vanquished. -Johann Christoph Schiller, German Writer (1759-1805) + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that prevents us from living freely and nobly. -Bertrand Russell + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "Everyone has the right...to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." Universal Declaration of Human Rights + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut." --- Ernest Hemingway <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om