Hawaii warns tourists of parasitic worm that can burrow into human brains

Hawaii’s health department has released fresh warnings about a parasitic worm that can infest human brains after officials confirmed that three more visitors to the state picked up the infection. The parasitic worm in these cases is the rat lungworm, aka Angiostrongylus cantonensis. In Hawaii, officials confirm cases by trying to pick up and amplify fragments of worm DNA from sick patients’ cerebrospinal fluid or other tissue (a polymerase chain reaction test).

Source: arstechnica.com