Eating unwashed blueberries or wild strawberries can lead to echinococcosis infection. The disease mainly affects people who work in forests, farmers, leather tanners, as well as collectors and enthusiasts of wild plants.
Echinococcosis mainly attacks the liver, and sometimes the lungs and brain. It develops over many years; the first symptoms are sometimes observed only after 10–15 years.
Echinococcosis is a zoonotic disease caused by the larval form of the fox tapeworm. Foxes carry this disease. Infected tapeworm eggs are excreted in the animals’ feces. The parasite settles in a person’s internal organs, less often in the bones, causing clinical symptoms resembling a tumor (cyst). It is often mistaken for cancer. It is dangerous. If a person does not undergo treatment, the disease can completely devastate the body.
Doctors advise thoroughly washing wild fruit, preferably with warm water. You should also wash your hands after visiting the forest.
In Germany, in areas bordering Lower Silesia, warning signs about the disease have appeared. The signs were placed at the edges of forests.
See also
Wojewódzka Stacja Sanitarno-Epidemiologiczna w Gorzowie Wielkopolskim