{"id":12647,"date":"2020-01-31T17:03:23","date_gmt":"2020-02-01T03:03:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/?p=12647"},"modified":"2020-03-03T12:47:44","modified_gmt":"2020-03-03T22:47:44","slug":"rat-lungworm-disease-uhp-helps-to-facilitate-state-wide-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/index.php\/rat-lungworm-disease-uhp-helps-to-facilitate-state-wide-education\/","title":{"rendered":"UHP researcher helps to facilitate statewide education of lungworm disease"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"12647\" class=\"elementor elementor-12647\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-32b12f15 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"32b12f15\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-26647211\" data-id=\"26647211\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6c091faf elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"6c091faf\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-large\">UHP researcher helps to facilitate statewide education of lungworm disease<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1a6ee2b8 elementor-align-center elementor-widget elementor-widget-post-info\" data-id=\"1a6ee2b8\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"post-info.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul class=\"elementor-inline-items elementor-icon-list-items elementor-post-info\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item elementor-repeater-item-46f67bb elementor-inline-item\" itemprop=\"author\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/author\/mkotrodimos1\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<i aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"far fa-user-circle\"><\/i>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text elementor-post-info__item elementor-post-info__item--type-author\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMarybeth Kotrodimos\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item elementor-repeater-item-a474e5f elementor-inline-item\" itemprop=\"datePublished\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/index.php\/2020\/01\/31\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<i aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"fas fa-calendar\"><\/i>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text elementor-post-info__item elementor-post-info__item--type-date\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<time>January 31, 2020<\/time>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-623f5a13 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"623f5a13\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"599\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/uhphawaii.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/RatLungwormGraphic6x4.jpg?fit=599%2C400&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-13119\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/uhphawaii.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/RatLungwormGraphic6x4.jpg?w=599&amp;ssl=1 599w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/uhphawaii.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/RatLungwormGraphic6x4.jpg?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/uhphawaii.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/RatLungwormGraphic6x4.jpg?resize=150%2C100&amp;ssl=1 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 599px) 100vw, 599px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-57294ba7 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"57294ba7\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-57348cdc\" data-id=\"57348cdc\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-18aa7717 elementor-widget elementor-widget-spacer\" data-id=\"18aa7717\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"spacer.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer-inner\"><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-61e52cef elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"61e52cef\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>January 31, 2020 &#8212;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Written by Marybeth Kotrodimos<br>Rat lungworm graphic courtesy of JABSOM\/UH Med Now.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Did you ever think that eating a salad made of lettuce from your very own garden might kill you?<\/p>\n<p>From time to time we hear about a type of produce that has somehow become contaminated and unfit for human consumption.&nbsp; You might think the safest way would be to grow your own vegetables in your backyard. But you may want to reconsider that option.<\/p>\n<p>Angiostrongyliasis, or Rat Lungworm Disease (RLWD), is found throughout the world, but nowhere is it more prevalent and more virulent than in Hawaii, and it\u2019s growing and spreading at a rapid pace.&nbsp; RLWD attacks the brain and spinal cord and is caused by a parasitic worm found in rodents which pass the larvae of the worm in their feces. Slugs (in particular, the semi-slug, a very small half-slug\/half-snail that likes to climb) snails, frogs, and some other animals serve as intermediate hosts of RLW when they ingest the larvae. Humans can become infected with RLWD when we eat raw produce that is contaminated by one of these hosts.<\/p>\n<p>The symptoms of RLWD are debilitating and painful. And for most people who have this disease there is no recovery.&nbsp; Those infected often die from this hidden danger which is rapidly spreading in the soil of our Islands.<\/p>\n<p>Recently, UHP became involved in a project to educate people and spread awareness of RLWD. After several unsuccessful attempts to secure funding for these efforts, Kathleen Howe, an internationally recognized authority on RLWD, was told that she and her team could use funds from the State Department of Health (DOH) to educate people in Hawaii about this disease. UHP was called upon to manage the funds for this project.<\/p>\n<p>Do an online search of Rat Lungworm Disease and you will see the name Kathleen Howe. Before she became an authority on RLWD, Kathleen taught language arts, art, and math to children at charter schools on Hawaii Island. In 2008, her son became ill with RLWD. From that day forward, Kathleen\u2019s life shifted to one spent caring for her son, researching RLWD, and educating the rest of us about this devastating illness.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>Kathleen describes her son\u2019s illness as unfolding into a \u201ccascade of problems\u201d that are characteristic of RLWD.&nbsp; A loss of balance was one of these problems. He couldn\u2019t walk. \u201cHe couldn\u2019t even turn himself over in bed,\u201d she says. He had even gone into a coma. \u201cEvery doctor told me to pull the plug. They said that he would never recover, that he would never open his eyes again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As Kathleen describes it, RLWD also tends to bring on \u201chorrible serious pain\u201d and an extreme skin sensitivity \u201cthat doesn\u2019t go away\u201d.&nbsp; There\u2019s a \u201cpins and needles\u201d sensation in which the skin becomes \u201creally really sensitive to anything \u2013 even hair brushing on it.\u201d Loss of vision and hearing, bowel and bladder issues, digestive problems, diarrhea, vomiting, exhaustion, and acquired brain injury are among the symptoms. &nbsp;\u201cThere\u2019s a whole list of weird stuff,\u201d Kathleen says.<\/p>\n<p>Kathleen\u2019s son has not had a full recovery. He still has problems with double-vision, balance and insomnia, as well as some cognitive issues, but \u201coverall,\u201d Kathleen reports, \u201che\u2019s doing incredibly well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kathleen relays a story about family on the Big Island who picked lettuce from their garden, washed the lettuce leaf by leaf, spun it, and served it in a salad. When they got down to the bottom of the bowl, they saw a semi-slug.&nbsp; They had it tested at UH\u2019s Jarvi Lab and found that it was indeed \u201cvery infected\u201d with RLW.<\/p>\n<p>Infested slugs have also been found in the water catchments in Hawaii. Large areas on the Big Island rely on rainwater catchment for their water source. Slugs tend to crawl into these catchments and contaminate the water supplies with RLWD.&nbsp; Kathleen and the team of researchers she works with have found that slugs, especially semi-slugs, shed parasites as they drown in water.<\/p>\n<p>Kathleen\u2019s struggle to educate people about RLWD really took hold in 2011 when she was speaking about her son\u2019s case at a conference where she met Dr. Susan Jarvi of UH\u2019s Daniel K Inouye College of Pharmacy in Hilo.&nbsp; Professor Jarvi is the head of the Hawaii Island Rat Lungworm Working Group. Her lab, The Jarvi Lab, has two main areas of investigation:&nbsp; avian pathogens and rat lungworm disease.&nbsp; It was in this meeting that Kathleen decided to return to school to get her Masters of Science Degree in Tropical Conservation Biology and Environmental Science from UH\u2019s College of Pharmacy with Dr. Jarvi as her advisor. It was also there that she and some others came up with the idea to start a program for educating people about RLWD in isolated rural areas on Hawaii Island where RLWD is most prevalent.<\/p>\n<p>Working in collaboration with the Hawaii Farm to School Garden Hui which oversees school gardens in Hawaii, Kathleen and her team went into K through 12 classrooms and talked to students about the pests that carry RLWD. They showed students how to identify slugs and snails by trapping them \u201cin shelters\u201d in the gardens.&nbsp; They developed a curriculum on RLWD consisting of lessons based on what they learned in that pilot program. All of the educational materials are now available online for no charge.<\/p>\n<p>Through a grant from the Hawaii Community Foundation they were able to develop a Department Of Education approved, for-credit Professional Development Educational program for teachers.<\/p>\n<p>Then using the DOH funding managed by UHP, she said she \u201cblanketed the state\u201d in June, 2019 teaching one-day workshops for teachers and others and working with the Hawaii School Garden Hui and the Hawaii School Garden Network on educating students about this issue. &nbsp;Participants learned how to make \u201cslug jugs\u201d and other methods for trapping and disposing of the pests that host RLWD.&nbsp; The teachers and community members went back to their communities to work on controlling slugs. Their goal was to collect data so we can better understand population dynamics and how effective control efforts are on populations.<\/p>\n<p>Now that this project is finished, she said, \u201cWe\u2019re looking for more funding to keep doing this. There\u2019s been a lot of interest from teachers and community members to continue it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>How can you avoid RLWD? \u201cWe tell people, don\u2019t eat raw food. Wash your food well and cook or freeze high risk vegetables. Freeze foods, such as kale, for 48 hours,\u201d Kathleen advises. \u201cTry blanching kale, chard, beet tops, and then chilling and serving in a salad. Also, washing and then drying with a towel, fruits and vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, avocados, etc., can help prevent the disease. The RLW parasite does not do well in dry conditions and perishes rather quickly. \u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kathleen said that she\u2019d like to send \u201ca big mahalo to UHP\u201d for all the help and support she gotten from our organization. \u201cYou guys are wonderful to work with. If we get a funding bill through, we might be working with you again!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And if she is successful in her goal, Hawaii surely does have her and the people at UH\u2019s Jarvi Lab to thank for their heroic efforts to keep us informed and safe from Rat Lungworm Disease.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-48d334aa elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"48d334aa\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-4df16ed6\" data-id=\"4df16ed6\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-44b31507 elementor-widget elementor-widget-button\" data-id=\"44b31507\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"button.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-button-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-button elementor-button-link elementor-size-sm\" href=\"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/index.php\/news-all\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-content-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-text\">&lt;&lt;   &nbsp;Return To News<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>UHP researcher helps to facilitate statewide education of lungworm disease January 31, 2020 &#8212; Written by Marybeth Kotrodimos Rat lungworm graphic courtesy of JABSOM\/UH Med Now.&nbsp; Did you ever think that eating a salad made of lettuce from your very own garden might kill you? From time to time we hear about a type of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":13119,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_header_footer","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[66,67],"class_list":["post-12647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-daniel-k-inouye-college-of-pharmacy","tag-partners"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/uhphawaii.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/RatLungwormGraphic6x4.jpg?fit=599%2C400&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12647"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12647\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13156,"href":"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12647\/revisions\/13156"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uhphawaii.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}