Boffin chef Heston Blumenthal cooks snails in porridge. And viewers of ITV’s ‘I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here’ have grown used to the sight of creepy-crawlies being gobbled up in the Australian jungle for “bush tucker trials”. But one Australian man will rue the day he tried to follow in their footsteps.

The 21-year old man from Sydney, who has not been named, ate two slugs as a dare. This back garden prank saw him admitted to hospital for a month, including stints in intensive care.

Health experts have warned that not all gastropods are gastronomic delights, after the man contracted the rat lungworm parasite from the slugs. The disease, which is similar to meningitis, is transferred to slugs and snails from rodent faeces, and its symptoms include headaches, fever, a stiff neck, and vomiting. The man has since recovered, but the disease can lead to permanent brain damage, and is sometimes fatal.

The disease is rare and isn’t infectious – but it can also be caught by eating raw fruit and vegetables that haven’t been properly washed. So it isn’t only contracted by idiots.