Getting Infected With Japanese Crabs

[Mulboyne]

[floatr][/floatr]Mercury News: More SoCal diners diagnosed with rare infection from eating crabs
Two more diners came down with a rare lung infection after eating raw or undercooked freshwater crabs that were served at two Orange County restaurants, prompting health officials to issue another warning. In all, four people have been sickened after eating imported Sawagani crabs, the Orange County Health Care Agency said Thursday. The tiny Japanese river crabs can carry a parasite that migrates from the intestines to the lungs, causing lung fluke infection. Symptoms include coughing, diarrhea, breathing difficulties, abdominal pain, fever and hives. They may not occur, however, for six to 10 weeks after consumption. If left untreated the disease can last for years and migrate to other organs, health officials said...Health investigators have found that raw crabs were served at Riptide Rockin' Sushi & Teppan Grill in Mission Viejo and Chomp Rockin' Sushi & Teppan Grill in Fullerton. Both restaurants are owned by Dan Lauriano, who said most crabs were served deep-fried in tempura batter. But he said some were eaten live by diners who started a "Fear Factor" style tradition in which they would reach into the sushi bar and devour live seafood as friends cheer them on.

[Taro Toporific]

I was figuring that this was going to be about these crabs......
....
A female sacculina begins life as a tiny free-floating slug in the sea, drifting around until she encounters a crab. When that fateful day arrives, she finds a chink in the crab’s armor (usually an elbow or leg joint) and thrusts a kind of hollow dagger into its body. After that, she (how to put this?) "injects" herself into the crab, sluicing through the dagger and leaving behind a husk. Once inside, the jellylike sacculina starts to take over. She grows "roots" that extend to every part of the crab’s body -- wrapping around its eyestalks and deep into its legs and arms. The female feeds and grows until eventually she pops out of the top of the crab, and from this knobby protrusion...


Or maybe The Captain's Crabs.

[Socratesabroad]

It's not just the crabs...

Beijing diners warned not to eat raw seafood amid rash of food poisonings

Parasite-infected snails have sickened at least 40 diners* in Beijing, prompting the city's health officials to issue a warning not to eat raw seafood, state media said Monday.
[...]
Health officials also warned people against eating raw fish, crab and shrimp, although those foods are not directly linked to the current meningitis outbreak.

*Actually, the figure appears to be quite a bit higher in the Chinese news, like 70 or so.

[Mulboyne]

NBC4: Number Of People Infected By Eating Raw Crab Rises To 8

...Deanne Thompson of the Orange County Health Care Agency said she did not know if any of the eight people ate the crabs on a dare, but "we have reports of that happening"...The crabs, also known as regal or river crabs, generally are served by "flash" frying them in tempura batter, but there is no state health department ban on serving them raw, Thompson said. Some people said that the crabs, kept in display jars, would be eaten on a dare. Customers would put their hands in the jar and popped the crab, live and raw, into their mouths, Thompson said...more...