Accidental Host – The Story of Rat Lungworm Disease
“Accidental Host – The Story of Rat Lungworm Disease” is a 53-minute documentary about a silently-spreading foodborne parasite that invades human brains and now thrives in tropical areas of five continents, including Hawaii and the southeastern U.S. The film features patient stories and expert interviews shot in Hawaii, Florida and California.
The threat it depicts — an illness which varies from confusing to catastrophic — is largely unknown to most physicians as well as travelers and residents at risk.
“Accidental Host” was produced by Claire Panosian Dunavan, MD, a UCLA professor of infectious diseases and past-president of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, and a team of veteran, award-winning filmmakers.
For more about the parasite Angiostrongylus cantonensis, see the interview below that followed an exclusive livestream of “Accidental Host” in November 2021.