Year Patients infected/died Symptoms Possible source of infections Treatment Diagnosis method Reference
1968-69 125/0 N/A Consumed giant African snail (Achatina fulica) N/A N/A (Yii, 1976)
1985 9/4 Headache, fever, double vision and muscle pain, neck stiffness, Kemis’ sign, asymmetric pupils, papilledema Consumed giant African snail (Achatina fulica) N/A N/A (http://www.mohw.gov.tw/)
1985 4/0 Fever, headache, vomiting, and tiredness Bake and eat snails and shells together N/A N/A (http://www.mohw.gov.tw/)
1991-2009 37/2 Headache, fever, nausea/vomiting, muscle weakness, abdominal pain, dizziness, neck stiffness, orbital/retro-orbital pain Eating raw snails, raw frogs, salads and uncooked vegetables Prednisolone (0.5-1 mg/kg/day for 15 days), Mebendazole (100 mg twice a day for 6 days), levamisole for 3 weeks CSF analysis, Blood tests, MRI (Tseng et al., 2011)
1998-99 17/0 Headache, neck stiffness, fever, paresthesia, muscle weakness, orbital/retro-orbital pain, diplopia, ataxia, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, skin rash, hyperesthesia, abducent nerve palsy, facial palsy Eaten raw golden apple snails (Pomacea canaliculata) Mebendazole, dexamethasone, acetaminophen, naproxen CSF, blood tests, MRI (Tsai et al., 2001)
2001 5/0 Headache, fever, neck stiffness, paresthesia/hyperaesthesia, nausea/vomiting, abdominal pain, ataxia Raw vegetable juice Dexamethasone (5mg every 8 hr. For 1 week) then given oral Prednisone (60mg/day for 1 week) CSF, lumbar punctures (Tsai et al., 2004)
2003 1/0 Headache, mild fever, vomiting, diarrhea, blurred vision, acute gastroenteritis, acute meningitis, stiff neck, the abdomen was soft, liver and spleen impalpable, mild weakness of bilateral lower limbs, positive Babinski and Kerning’s signs, myalgia Played with golden apple snails (Pomacea canaliculata =Ampullarium canaliculatus) as pets at home Ampicillin, gentamycin, cefotaxime, mebendazole with corticosteroid MRI, CSF, blood and stool culture (Wan & Weng, 2004)
2006 1/0 Headache, bilateral upper abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, vertigo Consumed raw frogs (Rana plancyi) Mannitol, acetaminophen, diclofenac CSF, MRI (Lai et al., 2007)
2009 3/0 N/A Consumed wine with raw snails (Pomacea canaliculata =Ampullarium canaliculatus) roasted N/A CSF (Wang et al., 2011)
2009 5/0 Headache, muscle pain, tiredness, neck pain, diarrhea, inability to turn your eyes to the left, stiff neck, vomiting, back pain, joint pain, left shoulder pain, loss of appetite Eaten raw golden apple snails (Pomacea canaliculata) Mebendazole steroids, Non-Anthelmintic Blood and cerebrospinal fluid testing (http://www.mohw.gov.tw/)
2010 1/0 Diarrhea, dizziness, headache, inability to stand, and altered consciousness Edible uncooked snails N/A N/A (http://www.mohw.gov.tw/)
2011 1/0 Processing conscious disturbance for 2 weeks, paucity of speech, decrease engagement in daily activity, abdominal pain, difficulty in urination, mildly distended abdomen, unable to stand up Pica disorder (eating nonfood items) Ceftriaxone, Dexamethasone (4mg/6hr. For 10 days) Serologic test, CSF, MRI, blood test, lumbar punctures (Hsueh et al., 2013)
2012 1/0 Body aches and discomfort, abnormal behavior, confusion and trance When growing vegetables, the hands are contaminated by snail mucus. Mebendazole steroids General blood test, cerebrospinal fluid test, MRI, serum, cerebrospinal fluid test (http://www.mohw.gov.tw/)
2012 8/0 Headache, neck pain, Symptoms of facial paralysis and quadriplegia Boiled apple snails (Pomacea canaliculata) mixed with vegetables and chili Albendazole Serum and CSF test by ELISA, brain computed tomography, MRI (http://www.mohw.gov.tw/)
2013 1/0 Headache and neck stiffness Uncooked snail soup Antiparasitic drugs N/A (http://www.mohw.gov.tw/)
2022 1/0 Fever, dizziness, headache, chest tightness N/A Dexamethasone (10 mg for 1 week) PCR of CSF and Brain MRI (Luo et al., 2023)