Disease
Swamp eels are an important host for Gnathostoma spinigerum. Eating raw or undercooked swamp eel can cause gnathostomiasis, an important disease in Thailand, Laos, Burma and Vietnam. Neurognathostomiasis has been reported in the US, but a link to imported swamp eels has not been proven.
Gnathostoma binucleatum (which is native to the Americas) has not been previous been reported to cause neurognathostomiasis, suggesting that G. spinigerum has been introduced to the Americas, but a survey of Gnathostoma isolates has not confirmed this.
Read more about this topic: Monopterus Albus
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