I look back to my early 20s and my own history of Proving-I-Will-Eat-That-For-A-Dollar and feel like there may have been some close calls. There was that TV dinner with a year-old expiration date. And a live moth. Twice. But I was fine, perhaps in large part to the absence of viable slugs when the challenge was made, as you will read below.
The following story -- out of Sydney -- illustrates the dangers of Eating On A Dare:
A SYDNEY man is critically ill after eating a slug as a dare, leading authorities to issue health warnings on devouring raw gastropods.
The 21-year-old contracted rat lungworm disease -- a rare form of meningitis -- after the stunt.
What's crazy is that it's not the first time someone from Sydney has eaten a parasite-filled slug. A guy ate two and almost died seven years ago. The case was published in a medical journal, complete with pictures of what happens to your brain when you eat an infected slug.
And slug eating on a dare happens in the United States, too. From the CDC's Web site on Angiostrongylus cantonensis, which is the infection you're hoping to avoid when eating raw slugs:
In 1993, a boy in New Orleans got infected by swallowing a raw snail “on a dare.” The type of snail he swallowed isn't known. He became ill a few weeks later, with muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, a slight fever, and vomiting. His symptoms went away in about 2 weeks, without treatment of the infection.
The disease itself is brutal -- it's a form of meningitis, after all -- but it usually goes away once your body figures out how to beat it.
Fortunately, it's easy to avoid. Again from the CDC:
Don't eat raw or undercooked snails or slugs. If you handle snails or slugs, wear gloves and wash your hands. Always remember to thoroughly wash fresh produce.
So don't eat raw slugs, even if your buddies think less of you. NOT WORTH IT.
That said, we all do things which - in retrospect - maybe didn't make a lot sense. He's one of mine:
Photo: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
Tags: Feedblog, Safety and Prevention
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