Two people in Los Angles County have been diagnosed with raccoon roundworm, also known as Baylisascaris procyonis, according to the local public health department.
Both cases were detected in the South Bay area of Los Angeles County, but officials say the risk to the general public is still “low at this time”.
“The last time I recall hearing about a raccoon roundworm infection in a human being, it must’ve been 40 years ago. So this is a very, very rare and unfortunate event,” said Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He has spent 40 years in infectious disease and public health.
The parasite that causes the disease lives in the intestines of raccoons, and can be spread through water or other materials contaminated with raccoon feces.
“The eggs of this worm get into the person, begin to develop, find themselves in a strange place, and then, unfortunately, seem to seek out the central nervous system. The brain and the spinal cord,” Schaffner said.
Symptoms can include nausea, blindness, loss of coordination and muscle control, and coma, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“We don’t have any established treatments for these infections and so, rarely they occur, but when they occur, they are very serious infections,” Dr. Schaffner said.
The disease can also infect household pets.
To prevent exposure, people are advised to not feed raccoons, avoid leaving food outside, keep trash bins closed, and wash their hands.
“In general, let’s be careful to keep ourselves as far as possible from wildlife and any kinds of interactions with their droppings or anything else,” said Dr. Schaffner.
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