Posted on 08/01/2018 7:32:12 AM PDT by Zhang Fei
Centipedes mean business. They can slay animals 15 times their size, even devour whole snakes if they want.
But the true horror of the centipede may be something else, hiding unseen inside their many-legged forms: a dangerous parasite, which scientists say has never been observed in these segmented critters – until now.
The stowaway in question is the parasitic roundworm Angiostrongylus cantonensis – aka 'rat lungworm' – a food-borne parasite typically found in snails and other mollusks, which has now for the first time been detected in centipedes too.
As for the strange reason we know this? It starts with headaches.
Fortunately for mother and son, both patients were ultimately treated successfully with a course of anti-parasitic drugs that rid them of their A. cantonensis infection.
It's not immediately clear if these Chinese marketplaces sell the venomous animals to be consumed raw, or if they're merely offered fresh, so consumers can later boil, pickle, or otherwise cook them.
In any case, Lu says as a matter of courtesy, serving suggestions are not dictated to shoppers at the live centipede stall.
"In my opinion, it would be rude to tell the customer, 'Don't eat them raw,'" Lu told The New York Times.
"It would say the customer is stupid."
To confirm their raw centipede hypothesis, Lu and fellow researchers tracked down the same marketplace the son had previously visited, and subsequent testing revealed seven out of 20 centipedes purchased tested positive for rat lungworm.
So, if you're thinking about serving up raw centipedes for dinner – whether for reasons of immunity boosting, or exotic cuisine – the science is clear.
"Centipedes can act as a transport host of A. cantonensis," Lu told Infectious Disease News.
"We should not eat raw centipedes, as well as other raw animals. We should realise that
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencealert.com ...
I’m not concerned about the 1st person who thought eating a centipede was a good idea. My problem is with the guy who watched the 1st.
But it’s ORGANIC!...................
I think Thailand has some poisonous centipedes as well.
And didn't some head-full-of-mush Aussie teen eat a local centipede and end up disabled?
Right, so let's remove all the warning labels and let Darwin weed out the unfit. Win-win!
Screw it! I’ll take my chances.
No way I’m giving up raw centipedes.
Don’t eat live centipedes? I think I can comply with that.
Note to self....
Most bugs are crunchier anyway when properly fried. I like my bugs crunchy.
Well, except for the really big ones, like lobster.
Whew!! Glad I read this. Raw centipedes are now off my menu for good.
As Chinese themselves say: they will eat anything with legs, except a table, and anything that flies, except an airplane.
[And didn’t some head-full-of-mush Aussie teen eat a local centipede and end up disabled?]
At 19, Australian Sam Ballard ingested a slug during a friend’s party. He was then a strapping rugby athlete in Sydney who his mom described as “invincible,” reports news.com.au.
Now 28, Ballard is a quadriplegic—all his four limbs are paralyzed—and requires round-the-clock care.
Unknowingly, the slug was infected with rat lungworm, a parasite in rats that is passed through their feces, usually ingested by snails or slugs.]
Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/973775/teen-athlete-eats-slug-on-dare-left-disabled-for-life-and-in-debt#ixzz5MwBkADPs
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My wife is Thai and Buddhist. She refuses to kill things like mice destroying her stock. However, she was bit by a centipede once and supports their immediate termination.
But...but, the Chinese are such an ancient culture....
They ARE actually talking about centipedes that look like the video game, “Centipede,” or like what you picture in thriller movies. What I didn’t realize for decades is that the centipedes Americans usually come across are those bugs that look like walking eyelashes. They actually only have 30 legs, not 100.
Millipedes in America typically are what are often called roly-polies, or pill bugs. Even they have fewer than 100 legs. Again: so different from what you picture that you probably don’t realize you see them all over the place.
I’ve heard of this teenage soccer player who, on a dare, ate an entire Banana Slug. He went into a coma for a few months, but was revived. He is now a quadraplegic who cannot speak, and he has permanent brain damage. Human beings are no match for nature if you make the wrong choices.
Cannibalism in China tends to rear its head periodically.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/31/chinese-cannibalism-infant-flesh-outrages-world/
THAILAND?
I’ve seen Bear Grylls eat a lot of different raw bugs on his Survivor series. Can’t remember if he ever ate a centipede.
I literally go on search and destroy missions whrn I see a centipede.
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