Overview
- Researchers reporting in CDC’s Emerging Infectious Diseases detected Angiostrongylus cantonensis in a San Diego Zoo Parma wallaby and in local rats and opossums.
- A 7-year-old wallaby developed severe neurologic illness in December 2024 and was found postmortem to have multiple rat lungworms in its brain.
- Targeted sampling of 64 roof rats near the zoo in early 2025 found two infected—about 3%—with live larvae also identified in fecal samples.
- Project Wildlife testing of 10 dead opossums collected between 2023 and 2025 found seven carrying the parasite, indicating local transmission in multiple species.
- The study flags a geographic expansion into continental California as clinicians are urged to consider the parasite, while CDC advises produce washing and avoiding raw snails or slugs given the low but serious risk.