The parasites that cause schistosomiasis live in certain types of freshwater snails. The infectious form of the parasite, known as cercariae, emerge from the snail into the water. You can become infected when your skin comes in contact with contaminated freshwater.
Can you get worms from eating snails?
People can be infected when they deliberately or accidentally eat a raw snail or slug that contains the lung worm larvae or if they eat unwashed lettuce or other raw leafy vegetables that have been contaminated by the slime of infected snails or slugs.
What diseases can you get from snails?
Snail-borne parasitic diseases, such as angiostrongyliasis, clonorchiasis, fascioliasis, fasciolopsiasis, opisthorchiasis, paragonimiasis and schistosomiasis, pose risks to human health and cause major socioeconomic problems in many tropical and sub-tropical countries.
Can you get sick from touching snails?
Rat lungworm, or Angiostrongylus cantonensis, can be transmitted between mollusks -- like snails and slugs -- and rats, and it can make humans sick. According to the Hawaii state Department of Health, when infecting a human, the parasites can't reproduce or mature, and they will die in due course.
Are there worms in snails?
Each sporocyst produces up to 4,000 tadpole-shaped larval worms an hour, known as cercariae. Cercariae pass into the environment through the snail's slime trail and infect other snails.
