Beware rat lungworm in snails and slugs

[chickenbub]

http://au.news.yahoo.com/sunday-nigh...atch/27241011/

Beware of snails and slugs.

[redrobyn]

Saw this on the t.v. last night scared the crap out of me I also Googled it slugs and snails creep me out at the best of times.

[Cackle]

Yeah and ain't it odd, we played with snails all the time as kids....

[chickenbub]

So did I and my Sophia plays with them too, although not any more! I think back when we were kids there was less of a black rat population so less cases. Research is showing that it is moving with the rats who are now running wild all over Sydney and heading South as far as Jervis Bay.

[Sparkles]

its scary....

[Frannie]

Yes we saw this as well........ very scary indeed

[Binx]

This from the entertainews website:

There have been less than ten serious cases of Rat lungworm disease in Australia in the past 50 years...

... If infected, there may be no symptoms or only mild short lived symptoms. Most cases do not require medical attention.

Stop watching entertainews; or if you see this over-sensationalised tripe check and double check the facts before believing anything the damn shows say.

[chickenbub]

Not quite sure what you are saying I shouldn't believe Binx? No one said it wasn't rare. I was just saying it can happen, something I didn't know. And my link wasn't the first time I'd heard about it, I read about Willow back when it happened in the "real" news. Regardless of where the info comes from, it is a fact the 3 mentioned in the story have been infected with rat lungworm and had very serious consequences. As a parent of a child with a rare medical condition I am not one to live by the "it won't happen to me" mentality because fact is it CAN happen. So I choose to be extra cautious around snails and slugs from now on. And I am sure Willow's parents wish they had watched some over sensationalised tripe which would have made them aware of the dangers of snails and slugs, maybe their daughter would still be alive today.

[Binx]

The level of scare chickenbub... of course if you can't see it, then keep watching.

[Kekka]

Look, this fawking freaked me out more than any story in a long time! I am growing my own lettuce - I will wash the leaves 3 times before I eat any.

I've got no qualms killing snails/slugs now. I will bait every fortnight. Come and get it fawkers!