A 70-year-old man in Kaohsiung suffered eosingophilic meningitis caused by a parasitic nematode infestation that reached his brain after eating raw frogs sashimi-style.
"It's never a good idea to eat raw frogs or snails," said Lai Chung-hsu (賴重旭) of E-da hospital's infectious disease department. Lai authored a paper on the case that was recently published in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
The Liberty Times (the Taipei Times' sister newspaper) reported that following advice from his friends, the man ate eight small frogs about 4cm to 5cm long to treat his aching back and lumbar area.
Practitioners of a local folk remedy claim that a patient can strengthen his bones by eating raw frog meat and bones. After catching the creatures, the man cleaned, gutted and chopped them before eating them dipped in soy sauce and washed down with liquor.
However, consuming uncooked frog also carries the risk of ingesting parasites and the man unwittingly became infected with Angiostrongylus cantonensis -- or rat lungworm -- a parasitic nematode endemic to Southeast Asia and the Pacific region.
The parasite usually lives in the lungs of its rodent hosts, producing eggs that hatch into juveniles that travel up the respiratory tract and into the hosts' digestive system.
Feces containing the juveniles then pass into an intermediate host, usually snails, but also slugs, fish, small molluscs and, in this case, frogs.
If an intermediate host is ingested by a human, the adult parasite works its way from the digestive tract into the blood and eventually migrates to the brain, causing eosingophilic meningitis.
The worm then dies in the brain without completing its life cycle, Lai said.
After the incubation period had passed, the man began to demonstrate symptoms such as headaches, abdominal pains and a loss of strength all over his body, the Liberty Times reported. After going to several hospitals without obtaining a prognosis of his condition, he ended up at Kaohsiung county's E-da hospital where he was finally diagnosed and treated, Lai said.
He suffers from no apparent lasting ill-effects from the episode.
The man subsequently identified the frogs he ate as Rana Plancyi, or the green pond frog.
"This is the first documented case of an Angiostrongylus cantonensis infection after eating raw frog," Lai said. "It is far more common to find the infection caused by eating raw snails. In recent years, Thai workers have become infected after eating raw snails with lemon juice -- which they are wont to do in Thailand."
"There have also been cases of Angiostrongylus cantonensis infection after patients consumed contaminated vegetable juice," Lai said.
Lai said that the severity of eosingophilic meningitis depends on the quantity of parasites ingested.
"In severe cases, the condition might cause long-term neurological damage or even death," he said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS