Video: Interviews with Rat Lungworm Disease survivors
Hawai‘i Island, more specifically the Puna District on the east side of the island, has been ground zero for human cases of angiostrongyliasis, or rat lungworm disease, for the past 10-15 years. Listen to survivors tell their stories.
Researchers at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo have released a video of interviews with Rat Lungworm Disease survivors. Susan Jarvi, professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy who specializes in RLWD research, Kay Howe, a graduate student in the Tropical Conservation Biology and Environmental Science program also doing RLWD research, along with Mark Kimura, affiliate faculty member of the geography department, worked on the 54-minute film.
“Kay and I visited four households with total of six people who have been affected by rat lungworm disease,” says Kimura. “Kay’s son got the disease several years ago and is still trying to recover. We wanted to convey (survivor’s) voices to the community, promote awareness and get enough funding for education and research in order to stop this horrible disease in Hawai‘i.”
More info
Rat Lungworm Working Group on Facebook.
The Hawai‘i Department of Health web page on Rat Lungworm.
Video: Stamp Out Rat Lungworm.
