Slug-Eating Dare Leaves Man In Critical Condition

Slug Eating Dare Leaves Man In Critical Condition
In this photo taken Nov. 19, 2009, a banana slug, about four inches long, slithers into a hole on the Van Eck Oregon Forest near Burnt Woods, Ore.   (AP)

An Australian man is fighting for his life after eating a raw slug for a dare. The Sidney man, 21, contracted a disease called rat lungworm, which many slugs and snails carry from eating infected rat feces. Similar to meningitis, it can be fatal because it causes the brain and spinal cord to swell.

Health officials are now warning of the danger of eating raw gastropods, slugs, and snails, which can all carry the rat lungworm parasite. Anyone planning to eat slugs is advised to wash them thoroughly first. Read the full article on Sky News.
(More slugs stories.)

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