Unravelling Jamaica’s rat lungworm puzzle
A fascination with the hidden world of parasites has taken Dr Marco-Dean Brown from an undergraduate classroom at The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, to discoveries that are expanding scientific understanding of the rat lungworm in Jamaica. His doctoral research identified 13 previously unrecognised species capable of carrying Angiostrongylus cantonensis, including seven snail species and an invasive flatworm. Eight of the findings represented global first records.