Parasites

[mynah]

Not pretty... A friend's son got bilharzia and it took ages to get rid of it.

another reason not to bathe lightly in tropical African waters:

The guinea-worm

[freeztar]

Bilharzia...fun!

A recurring theme among water borne parasites seems to be using snails as a host. Interesting...

[Michaelangelica]

Originally Posted by mynah

Not pretty... A friend's son got bilharzia and it took ages to get rid of it.

another reason not to bathe lightly in tropical African waters:

The guinea-worm

O Yuck, That post needs a warning label

This thread gets worse every day.
(Isn't it great )

[mynah]

That's what threads like these are for... A day from now I'm off to a part of tropical Asia where, on previous visits, Americans I'd just met on trains would tell me unselfconsciously of colonic irrigations they'd undergone to rid themselves of intestinal worms.

[Michaelangelica]

Originally Posted by mynah

That's what threads like these are for... A day from now I'm off to a part of tropical Asia where, on previous visits, Americans I'd just met on trains would tell me unselfconsciously of colonic irrigations they'd undergone to rid themselves of intestinal worms.

You don't even have to travel

Worms infect more poor in U.S. than thought
Many carry same parasitic infections that affect developing nations

WASHINGTON - Roundworms may infect close to a quarter of inner city black children, tapeworms are the leading cause of seizures among U.S. Hispanics and other parasitic diseases associated with poor countries are also affecting Americans, a U.S. expert said on Tuesday.

Recent studies show many of the poorest Americans living in the United States carry some of the same parasitic infections that affect the poor in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, said Dr. Peter Hotez, a tropical disease expert at George Washington University and editor-in-chief of the Public Library of Science journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.
. . .
almost 14 percent of the U.S. population is infected with Toxocara roundworms,. . .this might be partly behind the rise in asthma cases in the country
. . .
Cysticercosis is another very serious parasitic worm infection ... caused by the tapeworm Taenia solium, that results in seizures and other neurological manifestations,” Hotez wrote.
He said up to 2,000 new cases of neurological disease caused by tapeworms are diagnosed every year in the United States. More than 2 percent of adult Latinos may be infected, and with 35 million Hispanics in the United States, this could add up to tens of thousands of cases, Hotez said
. . .“In the hospitals of Los Angeles, California, neurocysticercosis currently accounts for 10 percent of all seizures presenting to some emergency departments,” he wrote..

Worms infect more U.S. poor than thought - More health news - MSNBC.com

[Michaelangelica]

Parasites spreading among US urban poor: study

Posted Wed Dec 26, 2007 6:18pm AEDT

An American researcher suggests many parasitic diseases are becoming prevalent in the United States.

George Washington University's Professor Peter Hotez says authorities seem to be ignoring the threat because it chiefly affects only the poorest black and Hispanic people.

In an article published in an academic journal, Professor Hotez says dog roundworms may now infect around a quarter of African American and Hispanic children in America's inner cities.

He writes that too many of the 12 per cent of Americans who live in some form of poverty are likely to show parasitic infections similar to those found among the poorest populations of Africa and Latin America.

- BBC

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2...26/2127619.htm

[freeztar]

Check this one out! It's a roundworm that infects ants and makes their back end look like a juicy berry so birds will eat them.

National Geographic News Photo Gallery: Parasite Transforms Ants Into ''Berries''

[mynah]

Truly fascinating critters...

Here are some more, including a parasite that replaces the tongue of a fish and another that turns the antennae of snails into pulsating "worms". (He could have added one of my favourite insect orders, the Strepsiptera, though...)

Bizarre parasites



I have actually seen two hairworms break out of a cricket once - of course, the one day I went walking in nature without my camera!

[freeztar]

Eyelashes and eyebrows...parasites...

Demodex spp. are intradermal parasites, which thrive in follicles and sebaceous glands of humans and animals. D. is spread by direct contact and probably by dust containing eggs (figs. 1, 2, 3). Currently, it is thought that pathological changes in the course of demodicosis of the eyelids are consequences of: (1) blockage of follicles and leading out tubules of sebaceous glands by the mites and by reactive hyperkeratinization and epithelial hyperplasia; (2) a mechanical vector role of bacteria; (3) host's inflammatory reaction to the presence of parasite's chitin as a foreign body; and (4) stimulation of the host's humoral responses and cell-mediated immunological reactions under the influence of the mites and their waste products.

Demodex folliculorum and Demodex brevis as a cause...[Ann Acad Med Stetin. 2007] - PubMed Result

*hyperlinks = freeztar

[Mercedes Benzene]

I suggest the Planet Earth episode "Jungles." There's all sorts of cool parasites in that one.

YouTube - fungi growth on insect !