The season for forest delicacies is in full swing. Sanitary Inspectorate warns of a serious illness

• Echinococcosis is a dangerous disease caused by an aggressive parasite
• It is also often called "dirty berry disease"
• Symptoms of the disease are mainly related to the enlargement of the cysts, pressure on the surrounding tissues and organs and depend on their location.

As the sanitary-epidemiological station reminds us, the blueberry grows in pine and spruce forests, creating the so-called blueberry stands. It is a very common shrub and can be found in almost most places in Poland.

However, under no circumstances should you eat the berries straight from the bush – this can cause a dangerous disease called echinococcosis. Before eating the fruit, you need to wash it very thoroughly – echinococcosis is often called “dirty berry disease”.

Washing under running water does not provide a hundred percent guarantee, but it is an effective and recommendable method of reducing the risk of infection. The State Sanitary Inspectorate warns about echinococcosis every summer. It is difficult to diagnose, but very dangerous, and it is in the summer, due to the abundance of berries, that the greatest number of cases occur.

The Sanitary Inspectorate explains that echinococcosis is a zoonosis (a disease that is transmitted from animals to humans). It is a disease caused by a dangerous tapeworm - echinococcus granulosus or Echinococcus multilocularis.

The eggs of a small and extremely dangerous tapeworm are found in the feces of infected animals (foxes, wolves or dogs) and together with them end up on the forest floor. Animal feces leave no trace or smell, so you should avoid eating berries straight from the bush. The aforementioned eggs can enter the human body through close contact with these animals, transferring the eggs to the mouth with dirty hands, or consuming food or water contaminated with eggs.

Cysts are most often located in the liver, but can also occur in the lungs, kidneys, spleen, central nervous system, bones, eyes, and can remain there for several years after eating the parasite eggs - warns the sanitary-epidemiological station.

The larvae of the mentioned parasite, after entering the body, choose the most important parts of the human body:

• liver,
• lungs,
• kidneys,
• spleen,
• central nervous system,
• bones.

Symptoms of the disease are mainly related to the enlargement of cysts, pressure on surrounding tissues and organs, and depend on their location (e.g. cysts in the lungs lead to changes resembling cancer, and if untreated, they lead to death).

Symptoms of cysts can be confusing:

• in the liver they may cause symptoms of jaundice,
• in the kidneys – hematuria,
• in the lungs – hemoptysis,
• in the brain – headaches and psychoneurological disorders.

Many untreated cases result in death.

The Sanitary Inspectorate explains that multilocular echinococcosis is a very dangerous and difficult to detect disease. However, most cases that are not treated properly end in death. Most often, a good diagnosis is made only after a cyst ruptures or by accident, during the treatment of another disease.

How to wash berries to protect yourself from echinococcosis? Warm water and a running stream are enough - it is important to do it thoroughly. The same applies to all other food products - strawberries or fruits or vegetables grown on an allotment or in a home garden - reminds the sanitary inspectorate.

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