Angiostrongyliasis, Mainland China

摘要

To the Editor: The first case ofangiostrongyliasis caused byAngiostrongylus cantonensis in main-land China was reported in 1984; only3 cases were reported between thenand 1996 (1). Recently, however,cases of angiostrongyliasis haveincreased rapidly because of its natu-ral focus and a change in humandietary patterns. For example, snailshave become a popular food in manyregions of this country. Nearly 100cases of angiostrongyliasis have beenreported in mainland China, including2 outbreaks (2,3). From 1994 to 2003, 84 cases ofangiostrongyliasis were documentedin mainland China. Of all the cases,29 were reported individually, and 55were reported from the 2 outbreaksthat occurred in Zhejiang and Fujian.Sixty-three of the 84 patients hadeaten raw or undercooked snails, 5had eaten raw crabs, 1 swallowed tad-poles, and several pediatric patientshad close contact with snails. Someresearchers believe that the larvae ofA. cantonensis can be released frommollusks into slime fluid and contam-inate produce and other objects asthey crawl. However, Liang et al. (4)reported finding no larvae in bodyfluid washed from 23 Achatina fulicathat were infected with A. cantonen-sis. Therefore, whether slime fluidplays a role in human infectionremains unclear