MIAMI—Floridians have grown accustomed to invasions of exotic creatures, like the Burmese pythons slithering throughout the Everglades. But residents here are especially grossed out by the latest arrivals: giant African land snails that grow as long as eight inches, chew through plants, plaster and stucco, and sometimes carry a parasite that can infect humans with a nonlethal strain of meningitis.
The gastropods are among the most dangerous in the world, agriculture officials say. They each have male and female reproductive organs and can lay 1,200 eggs a year, allowing them to proliferate rapidly. Thousands of them have infested at least five separate neighborhoods in the Miami area.
Homeowners who discover the creatures in their yards often find them disgusting. The snails' engorged bodies extend far from their shells, and they eat so ravenously that they leave trails of excrement on walls and the ground.
Read on...
By ARIAN CAMPO-FLORES
Showing posts with label parasite. Show all posts
Showing posts with label parasite. Show all posts
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Worms With Teeth Attack Aussie Couple
Couple Being Eaten Alive By Parasites, But Now Recovering
An Australian couple is recovering after discovering they were being eaten alive by tiny worms with teeth.
The duo discovered the culprits after weeks of chronic illness, the Herald Sun reported.
They first became ill after cooking fish they had caught while camping in Western Australia, and ingesting the gnathostomiasis larvae.
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It is the first time humans have been infected by the parasite in Australia.
The worms are less than 1 inch long, have sharp teeth and can work their way around the body until it dies or is killed by the immune system.
"They move under the skin and cause itchy lumps that can make you feel sick and it can be very hard to diagnose," Dr. Andrew Fuller told the Herald Sun. "They eat your tissues."
The 52-year-old man told doctors he could even feel movement under his skin.
A course of antibiotics killed the parasite and the couple have recovered.
http://www.wapt.com/r/28460768/detail.html
An Australian couple is recovering after discovering they were being eaten alive by tiny worms with teeth.
The duo discovered the culprits after weeks of chronic illness, the Herald Sun reported.
They first became ill after cooking fish they had caught while camping in Western Australia, and ingesting the gnathostomiasis larvae.
It is the first time humans have been infected by the parasite in Australia.
The worms are less than 1 inch long, have sharp teeth and can work their way around the body until it dies or is killed by the immune system.
"They move under the skin and cause itchy lumps that can make you feel sick and it can be very hard to diagnose," Dr. Andrew Fuller told the Herald Sun. "They eat your tissues."
The 52-year-old man told doctors he could even feel movement under his skin.
A course of antibiotics killed the parasite and the couple have recovered.
http://www.wapt.com/r/28460768/detail.html
Monday, April 25, 2011
Tick voted the Netherlands' most hated creature
Published on 24 April 2011 - 10:14am
The humble tick has been voted the most hated creature in the Netherlands. The insect’s fearsome reputation as a bloodsucker and spreader of disease earned it almost 20 percent of all votes cast by the listeners of Dutch radio show Vroege Vogels [Early Birds].
The popular nature programme has produced a Top 50 of most hated creatures based on its listeners’ votes. Over 48,000 votes were cast during a two-month period, 9,457 of them for the tick. The insect has attracted considerable media coverage in recent years as a carrier of Lyme disease, a potentially debilitating condition with a wide range of symptoms.
The radio show announced the full Top 50 in its Easter Sunday broadcast. Invertebrates feature heavily on the list. The Top 50 contains 9 mammals and 11 birds but the rest is made up of insects, spiders, mites and molluscs.
The programme makers promise to highlight the more positive and useful aspects of the unpopular creatures, as well as their less loveable characteristics. They will also answer the much-asked question of why it wasn’t possible to vote for humans in the survey.
http://www.rnw.nl/english/bulletin/tick-voted-netherlands%E2%80%99-most-hated-creature
The humble tick has been voted the most hated creature in the Netherlands. The insect’s fearsome reputation as a bloodsucker and spreader of disease earned it almost 20 percent of all votes cast by the listeners of Dutch radio show Vroege Vogels [Early Birds].
The popular nature programme has produced a Top 50 of most hated creatures based on its listeners’ votes. Over 48,000 votes were cast during a two-month period, 9,457 of them for the tick. The insect has attracted considerable media coverage in recent years as a carrier of Lyme disease, a potentially debilitating condition with a wide range of symptoms.
The radio show announced the full Top 50 in its Easter Sunday broadcast. Invertebrates feature heavily on the list. The Top 50 contains 9 mammals and 11 birds but the rest is made up of insects, spiders, mites and molluscs.
The programme makers promise to highlight the more positive and useful aspects of the unpopular creatures, as well as their less loveable characteristics. They will also answer the much-asked question of why it wasn’t possible to vote for humans in the survey.
http://www.rnw.nl/english/bulletin/tick-voted-netherlands%E2%80%99-most-hated-creature
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Parasite Caused Frogs With Too Many Legs, Scientist Says
LOS LUNAS, N.M. -- Frogs in a Los Lunas pond are surfacing with either too many legs or too few, and one university researcher said he’s pinpointed the cause.
Worried viewers called Target 7 to find out if the water was contaminated and if it was harmful to humans.
Los Lunas officials didn’t know about the frogs until they were contacted by Target 7. Immediately, Parks and Recreation Director Michael Jaramillio closed off the pond and had the water tested.
Target 7 also conducted water tests, and reporter Anna Velasquez broke out in rashes after collecting samples.
Mason Ryan is an amphibian expert at the University of New Mexico who is investigating the frog deformities.
“In the big picture of the number of ponds and the number of frog species we have in this country, it's kind of a relatively rare event,” Ryan said.
Ryan said this is New Mexico’s first known case of bullfrog deformities. Out of the 178 frogs collected, he said 80 percent were deformed and all were juveniles.
“As with most stories in biology, it's a complex story with multiple things happening to cause this,” Ryan said.
Predators are responsible for the frogs that are missing legs, and a parasite called trematode caused three or more legs in some frogs, Ryan said.
“They have a complex life cycle where they go through a bird, into a snail, and they live in the water and then they enter the developing tadpole,” Ryan said.
Ryan said he believes something must have happened in the pond to trigger a spike in the parasite’s population.
“Our nitrogen level may have been high in the pond some time last year due to possibly and overspill of fertilizer,” Jaramillo said.
Jaramillo admits that a groundskeeper fertilized the grass around the pond and accidentally spilled some into the water.
“How much of it? They're thinking a couple pounds at the most, it wasn't like it was intentionally put in there,” Jaramillo said.
The amount of fertilizer was not enough to kill off the pond’s fish or other organisms, but may have been enough to cause the frogs’ deformities.
Worried viewers called Target 7 to find out if the water was contaminated and if it was harmful to humans.
Los Lunas officials didn’t know about the frogs until they were contacted by Target 7. Immediately, Parks and Recreation Director Michael Jaramillio closed off the pond and had the water tested.
Target 7 also conducted water tests, and reporter Anna Velasquez broke out in rashes after collecting samples.
Mason Ryan is an amphibian expert at the University of New Mexico who is investigating the frog deformities.
“In the big picture of the number of ponds and the number of frog species we have in this country, it's kind of a relatively rare event,” Ryan said.
Ryan said this is New Mexico’s first known case of bullfrog deformities. Out of the 178 frogs collected, he said 80 percent were deformed and all were juveniles.
“As with most stories in biology, it's a complex story with multiple things happening to cause this,” Ryan said.
Predators are responsible for the frogs that are missing legs, and a parasite called trematode caused three or more legs in some frogs, Ryan said.
“They have a complex life cycle where they go through a bird, into a snail, and they live in the water and then they enter the developing tadpole,” Ryan said.
Ryan said he believes something must have happened in the pond to trigger a spike in the parasite’s population.
“Our nitrogen level may have been high in the pond some time last year due to possibly and overspill of fertilizer,” Jaramillo said.
Jaramillo admits that a groundskeeper fertilized the grass around the pond and accidentally spilled some into the water.
“How much of it? They're thinking a couple pounds at the most, it wasn't like it was intentionally put in there,” Jaramillo said.
The amount of fertilizer was not enough to kill off the pond’s fish or other organisms, but may have been enough to cause the frogs’ deformities.
Parasite Caused Frogs With Too Many Legs, Scientist Says
LOS LUNAS, N.M. -- Frogs in a Los Lunas pond are surfacing with either too many legs or too few, and one university researcher said he’s pinpointed the cause.
Worried viewers called Target 7 to find out if the water was contaminated and if it was harmful to humans.
Los Lunas officials didn’t know about the frogs until they were contacted by Target 7. Immediately, Parks and Recreation Director Michael Jaramillio closed off the pond and had the water tested.
Target 7 also conducted water tests, and reporter Anna Velasquez broke out in rashes after collecting samples.
Mason Ryan is an amphibian expert at the University of New Mexico who is investigating the frog deformities.
“In the big picture of the number of ponds and the number of frog species we have in this country, it's kind of a relatively rare event,” Ryan said.
Ryan said this is New Mexico’s first known case of bullfrog deformities. Out of the 178 frogs collected, he said 80 percent were deformed and all were juveniles.
“As with most stories in biology, it's a complex story with multiple things happening to cause this,” Ryan said.
Predators are responsible for the frogs that are missing legs, and a parasite called trematode caused three or more legs in some frogs, Ryan said.
“They have a complex life cycle where they go through a bird, into a snail, and they live in the water and then they enter the developing tadpole,” Ryan said.
Ryan said he believes something must have happened in the pond to trigger a spike in the parasite’s population.
“Our nitrogen level may have been high in the pond some time last year due to possibly and overspill of fertilizer,” Jaramillo said.
Jaramillo admits that a groundskeeper fertilized the grass around the pond and accidentally spilled some into the water.
“How much of it? They're thinking a couple pounds at the most, it wasn't like it was intentionally put in there,” Jaramillo said.
The amount of fertilizer was not enough to kill off the pond’s fish or other organisms, but may have been enough to cause the frogs’ deformities.
Worried viewers called Target 7 to find out if the water was contaminated and if it was harmful to humans.
Los Lunas officials didn’t know about the frogs until they were contacted by Target 7. Immediately, Parks and Recreation Director Michael Jaramillio closed off the pond and had the water tested.
Target 7 also conducted water tests, and reporter Anna Velasquez broke out in rashes after collecting samples.
Mason Ryan is an amphibian expert at the University of New Mexico who is investigating the frog deformities.
“In the big picture of the number of ponds and the number of frog species we have in this country, it's kind of a relatively rare event,” Ryan said.
Ryan said this is New Mexico’s first known case of bullfrog deformities. Out of the 178 frogs collected, he said 80 percent were deformed and all were juveniles.
“As with most stories in biology, it's a complex story with multiple things happening to cause this,” Ryan said.
Predators are responsible for the frogs that are missing legs, and a parasite called trematode caused three or more legs in some frogs, Ryan said.
“They have a complex life cycle where they go through a bird, into a snail, and they live in the water and then they enter the developing tadpole,” Ryan said.
Ryan said he believes something must have happened in the pond to trigger a spike in the parasite’s population.
“Our nitrogen level may have been high in the pond some time last year due to possibly and overspill of fertilizer,” Jaramillo said.
Jaramillo admits that a groundskeeper fertilized the grass around the pond and accidentally spilled some into the water.
“How much of it? They're thinking a couple pounds at the most, it wasn't like it was intentionally put in there,” Jaramillo said.
The amount of fertilizer was not enough to kill off the pond’s fish or other organisms, but may have been enough to cause the frogs’ deformities.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Gorillas may be key to malaria mystery
2010/10/01
MALARIA appears to have jumped to humans from gorillas, and the parasite may have spread globally from a single gorilla to a single human, researchers report.
DNA from the droppings of nearly 3000 apes – gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos – shows the strain of malaria parasite most common in humans is virtually identical to one of many strains that infects gorillas.
Beatrice Hahn, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and colleagues used ape droppings collected to study the origins of the Aids virus for their study, published in the journal Nature.
Hahn’s team looked for DNA from malaria parasites, including the Plasmodium falciparum parasite that causes most human cases.
“Wild apes, in particular the common chimps and the western gorillas, are naturally infected with at least eight or nine different Plasmodium species,” Hahn said. For years chimps were the chief suspects. But Hahn’s data shows only gorillas are infected by a Plasmodium species virtually identical on the genetic level to the type that infects humans. The findings could have implications for efforts to get rid of malaria, said Dr Larry Slutsker, who heads the malaria programme at the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
“If we were trying to rid the planet of every last parasite and there was a reservoir in western gorillas, that would have implications for eradication. I don’t think we are there, obviously,” he said. — BY MAGGIE FOX Reuters
http://www.dispatch.co.za/article.aspx?id=437111
(Submitted by Chad Arment)
MALARIA appears to have jumped to humans from gorillas, and the parasite may have spread globally from a single gorilla to a single human, researchers report.
DNA from the droppings of nearly 3000 apes – gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos – shows the strain of malaria parasite most common in humans is virtually identical to one of many strains that infects gorillas.
Beatrice Hahn, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and colleagues used ape droppings collected to study the origins of the Aids virus for their study, published in the journal Nature.
Hahn’s team looked for DNA from malaria parasites, including the Plasmodium falciparum parasite that causes most human cases.
“Wild apes, in particular the common chimps and the western gorillas, are naturally infected with at least eight or nine different Plasmodium species,” Hahn said. For years chimps were the chief suspects. But Hahn’s data shows only gorillas are infected by a Plasmodium species virtually identical on the genetic level to the type that infects humans. The findings could have implications for efforts to get rid of malaria, said Dr Larry Slutsker, who heads the malaria programme at the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
“If we were trying to rid the planet of every last parasite and there was a reservoir in western gorillas, that would have implications for eradication. I don’t think we are there, obviously,” he said. — BY MAGGIE FOX Reuters
http://www.dispatch.co.za/article.aspx?id=437111
(Submitted by Chad Arment)
Gorillas may be key to malaria mystery
2010/10/01
MALARIA appears to have jumped to humans from gorillas, and the parasite may have spread globally from a single gorilla to a single human, researchers report.
DNA from the droppings of nearly 3000 apes – gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos – shows the strain of malaria parasite most common in humans is virtually identical to one of many strains that infects gorillas.
Beatrice Hahn, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and colleagues used ape droppings collected to study the origins of the Aids virus for their study, published in the journal Nature.
Hahn’s team looked for DNA from malaria parasites, including the Plasmodium falciparum parasite that causes most human cases.
“Wild apes, in particular the common chimps and the western gorillas, are naturally infected with at least eight or nine different Plasmodium species,” Hahn said. For years chimps were the chief suspects. But Hahn’s data shows only gorillas are infected by a Plasmodium species virtually identical on the genetic level to the type that infects humans. The findings could have implications for efforts to get rid of malaria, said Dr Larry Slutsker, who heads the malaria programme at the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
“If we were trying to rid the planet of every last parasite and there was a reservoir in western gorillas, that would have implications for eradication. I don’t think we are there, obviously,” he said. — BY MAGGIE FOX Reuters
http://www.dispatch.co.za/article.aspx?id=437111
(Submitted by Chad Arment)
MALARIA appears to have jumped to humans from gorillas, and the parasite may have spread globally from a single gorilla to a single human, researchers report.
DNA from the droppings of nearly 3000 apes – gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos – shows the strain of malaria parasite most common in humans is virtually identical to one of many strains that infects gorillas.
Beatrice Hahn, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and colleagues used ape droppings collected to study the origins of the Aids virus for their study, published in the journal Nature.
Hahn’s team looked for DNA from malaria parasites, including the Plasmodium falciparum parasite that causes most human cases.
“Wild apes, in particular the common chimps and the western gorillas, are naturally infected with at least eight or nine different Plasmodium species,” Hahn said. For years chimps were the chief suspects. But Hahn’s data shows only gorillas are infected by a Plasmodium species virtually identical on the genetic level to the type that infects humans. The findings could have implications for efforts to get rid of malaria, said Dr Larry Slutsker, who heads the malaria programme at the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
“If we were trying to rid the planet of every last parasite and there was a reservoir in western gorillas, that would have implications for eradication. I don’t think we are there, obviously,” he said. — BY MAGGIE FOX Reuters
http://www.dispatch.co.za/article.aspx?id=437111
(Submitted by Chad Arment)
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Girl vomited two-metre parasitic worm, archives reveal
Medic's account is one of more than 1,000 Royal Navy journals made accessible to the public from today
The Guardian, Thursday 30 September 2010
A 12-year-old girl required medical treatment after vomiting a 220cm-long worm as she sailed to a new life in Canada in the 19th century, documents revealed today.
Ellen McCarthy was a passenger on board the Elizabeth ship taking emigrants from Cork in Ireland to Quebec when she fell ill, expelling three worms in total.
Her unusual case was described by the ship's surgeon, P Power, in June 1825. The medic's account is one of more than 1,000 Royal Navy medical officer journals made accessible to the public after a two-year cataloguing project at the National Archives in Kew.
Power's notes state: "Complained yesterday evening of pain in the bottom of the belly increased on pressure, abdomen hard and swollen, picks her nose, starts in her sleep, bowels constipated, pyrexia, tongue foul, pulse quick, skin hot, great thirst. Her mother brought me a lumbricus [worm] this morning 87in long which the patient vomited."
The naval surgeon treated the girl with a range of syrups and injections including barley water and brandy punch. But he singled out oil of "terebouth" (thought to refer to the turpentine tree) for having the greatest effect. Two days later, on 15 June, she was "very ill and feverish" and Power gave her a laxative which he said prompted the patient to pass a "great quantity of slimey matter".
Her condition gradually improved in a "pleasing" manner and on 29 June, Power stated she was "convalescent".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/sep/30/girl-vomited-two-metre-parasitic-worm
(Submitted by Tim Chapman)
The Guardian, Thursday 30 September 2010
A 12-year-old girl required medical treatment after vomiting a 220cm-long worm as she sailed to a new life in Canada in the 19th century, documents revealed today.
Ellen McCarthy was a passenger on board the Elizabeth ship taking emigrants from Cork in Ireland to Quebec when she fell ill, expelling three worms in total.
Her unusual case was described by the ship's surgeon, P Power, in June 1825. The medic's account is one of more than 1,000 Royal Navy medical officer journals made accessible to the public after a two-year cataloguing project at the National Archives in Kew.
Power's notes state: "Complained yesterday evening of pain in the bottom of the belly increased on pressure, abdomen hard and swollen, picks her nose, starts in her sleep, bowels constipated, pyrexia, tongue foul, pulse quick, skin hot, great thirst. Her mother brought me a lumbricus [worm] this morning 87in long which the patient vomited."
The naval surgeon treated the girl with a range of syrups and injections including barley water and brandy punch. But he singled out oil of "terebouth" (thought to refer to the turpentine tree) for having the greatest effect. Two days later, on 15 June, she was "very ill and feverish" and Power gave her a laxative which he said prompted the patient to pass a "great quantity of slimey matter".
Her condition gradually improved in a "pleasing" manner and on 29 June, Power stated she was "convalescent".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/sep/30/girl-vomited-two-metre-parasitic-worm
(Submitted by Tim Chapman)
Girl vomited two-metre parasitic worm, archives reveal
Medic's account is one of more than 1,000 Royal Navy journals made accessible to the public from today
The Guardian, Thursday 30 September 2010
A 12-year-old girl required medical treatment after vomiting a 220cm-long worm as she sailed to a new life in Canada in the 19th century, documents revealed today.
Ellen McCarthy was a passenger on board the Elizabeth ship taking emigrants from Cork in Ireland to Quebec when she fell ill, expelling three worms in total.
Her unusual case was described by the ship's surgeon, P Power, in June 1825. The medic's account is one of more than 1,000 Royal Navy medical officer journals made accessible to the public after a two-year cataloguing project at the National Archives in Kew.
Power's notes state: "Complained yesterday evening of pain in the bottom of the belly increased on pressure, abdomen hard and swollen, picks her nose, starts in her sleep, bowels constipated, pyrexia, tongue foul, pulse quick, skin hot, great thirst. Her mother brought me a lumbricus [worm] this morning 87in long which the patient vomited."
The naval surgeon treated the girl with a range of syrups and injections including barley water and brandy punch. But he singled out oil of "terebouth" (thought to refer to the turpentine tree) for having the greatest effect. Two days later, on 15 June, she was "very ill and feverish" and Power gave her a laxative which he said prompted the patient to pass a "great quantity of slimey matter".
Her condition gradually improved in a "pleasing" manner and on 29 June, Power stated she was "convalescent".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/sep/30/girl-vomited-two-metre-parasitic-worm
(Submitted by Tim Chapman)
The Guardian, Thursday 30 September 2010
A 12-year-old girl required medical treatment after vomiting a 220cm-long worm as she sailed to a new life in Canada in the 19th century, documents revealed today.
Ellen McCarthy was a passenger on board the Elizabeth ship taking emigrants from Cork in Ireland to Quebec when she fell ill, expelling three worms in total.
Her unusual case was described by the ship's surgeon, P Power, in June 1825. The medic's account is one of more than 1,000 Royal Navy medical officer journals made accessible to the public after a two-year cataloguing project at the National Archives in Kew.
Power's notes state: "Complained yesterday evening of pain in the bottom of the belly increased on pressure, abdomen hard and swollen, picks her nose, starts in her sleep, bowels constipated, pyrexia, tongue foul, pulse quick, skin hot, great thirst. Her mother brought me a lumbricus [worm] this morning 87in long which the patient vomited."
The naval surgeon treated the girl with a range of syrups and injections including barley water and brandy punch. But he singled out oil of "terebouth" (thought to refer to the turpentine tree) for having the greatest effect. Two days later, on 15 June, she was "very ill and feverish" and Power gave her a laxative which he said prompted the patient to pass a "great quantity of slimey matter".
Her condition gradually improved in a "pleasing" manner and on 29 June, Power stated she was "convalescent".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/sep/30/girl-vomited-two-metre-parasitic-worm
(Submitted by Tim Chapman)
Friday, April 16, 2010
After the girl's nostril leech: More nasty animals found in the body
RIGHT: A hookworm: They infect 600 million people worldwideTed Thornhill - 16th April, 2010
You've seen the horror that is the leech named T Rex who gets into girls' nostrils. Now prepare to see even more nasty things that live inside humans...
Hookworm
An infestation of hookworm can cause nasty blisters and lesions on the skin. You might also get a fever and vomit a lot. It's really not pleasant - and they infect over 500 million people a year.
Candiru
The candiru – or toothpick fish – is a native to the Amazon River in Brazil and has a vicious way of feeding. Attracted by chemicals emitted from the gills of fish it preys upon, the candiru – which can grow to 15cm – sneaks into the gills and uses two spikes in its head to hook itself in place. Then it sucks the blood of its victim. It poses little danger to humans – unless you pee in the river. The candiru is thought to be attracted to our urine and there was a case in 1997 when someone got one of these spiky beasts lodged somewhere rather sensitive...
Human Botfly
These nasty little critters capture mosquitoes, drop their eggs on them, then let the mozzies go to work. When they bite, the eggs go in through the hole and grow under the skin – for eight weeks. Then the 2cm long larva fall out and hatch into botflies.
See the video of a larva being removed from someone's back. If you can stomach it!
Whipworm
These can grow to 31cm in length – in your stomach! And sometimes they try to get out through your nose or mouth. Infection is often caused by eating beans or rice containing eggs, or through soil contaminated with human feces.
The fish tapeworm
Like something out of a horror film – and a particularly horrific horror film at that – the fish tapeworm can grow to 30 feet. Inside you. You can be infected by eating raw or undercooked fish – and the tapeworm can be found wherever bears or other fish-eating mammals, including humans, defecate. You'll know you've got one because you'll be constantly hungry, as the tapeworm is eating all the food!
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/822082-after-the-girls-nostril-leech-more-nasty-animals-found-in-the-body
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Hong Kong dieters warned over swallowing parasitic worms
Dieters in Hong Kong have been warned by government doctors that they may be risking their lives by swallowing parasitic worms that can grow up to 15 inches long.
Published: 11:41AM GMT 09 Feb 2010
The city's department of health said that Chinese-language websites have been offering products containing potentially fatal parasites as a means of losing weight quickly without eating less.
The weight loss remedies use the eggs of Ascaris worms – giant intestinal roundworms which grow up to 15in in length in a host's intestine and lay up to 200,000 more eggs a day inside the body.
A spokesman for Hong Kong's department of health said swallowing the parasites could cause abdominal pain and distension, vomiting, diarrhoea and malnutrition.
"Parasite infestation may also be fatal if serious complications such as intestinal, biliary tract or pancreatic duct obstruction arise," the spokesman said. "The worms may even invade such organs as the lungs.
"The infestation can be treated with medication that kills the parasite. The worms may require surgical removal if there are obstructions."
He urged people to consult doctors before dieting and said the only healthy and effective means of weight loss was to eat less and take regular exercise.
Dieting is big business in Hong Kong where obesity levels have soared because of sedentary lifestyles, fast food diets and long office hours in the workaholic city of 7 million.
Clinics and websites in the former British colony offer a bizarre variety of questionable weight loss methods including sweat-inducing body suits, fat-dissolving injections and even flammable paraffin wraps to literally burn off belly fat.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/7195990/Hong-Kong-dieters-warned-over-swallowing-parasitic-worms.html
Published: 11:41AM GMT 09 Feb 2010
The city's department of health said that Chinese-language websites have been offering products containing potentially fatal parasites as a means of losing weight quickly without eating less.
The weight loss remedies use the eggs of Ascaris worms – giant intestinal roundworms which grow up to 15in in length in a host's intestine and lay up to 200,000 more eggs a day inside the body.
A spokesman for Hong Kong's department of health said swallowing the parasites could cause abdominal pain and distension, vomiting, diarrhoea and malnutrition.
"Parasite infestation may also be fatal if serious complications such as intestinal, biliary tract or pancreatic duct obstruction arise," the spokesman said. "The worms may even invade such organs as the lungs.
"The infestation can be treated with medication that kills the parasite. The worms may require surgical removal if there are obstructions."
He urged people to consult doctors before dieting and said the only healthy and effective means of weight loss was to eat less and take regular exercise.
Dieting is big business in Hong Kong where obesity levels have soared because of sedentary lifestyles, fast food diets and long office hours in the workaholic city of 7 million.
Clinics and websites in the former British colony offer a bizarre variety of questionable weight loss methods including sweat-inducing body suits, fat-dissolving injections and even flammable paraffin wraps to literally burn off belly fat.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/7195990/Hong-Kong-dieters-warned-over-swallowing-parasitic-worms.html
Monday, October 12, 2009
This sea parasite really does suck
A PARASITE that slowly kills fish be clinging to their bodies and sucking their blood has been found in the English Channel for the first time. The isopod attaches itself, becomes part of the fish's body, and uses its host's nutrients to survive. Scientists say global warming is partly responsible for the arrival of the woodlouse-like isopod which is normally found in the Med.
Metro Ireland, Monday 12 October 2009, p9.
Metro Ireland, Monday 12 October 2009, p9.
This sea parasite really does suck
A PARASITE that slowly kills fish be clinging to their bodies and sucking their blood has been found in the English Channel for the first time. The isopod attaches itself, becomes part of the fish's body, and uses its host's nutrients to survive. Scientists say global warming is partly responsible for the arrival of the woodlouse-like isopod which is normally found in the Med.
Metro Ireland, Monday 12 October 2009, p9.
Metro Ireland, Monday 12 October 2009, p9.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Frog Deformities: Sign of Parasites on the Rise?
September 22, 2009—You might call it a teenage mutant ninja frog—minus the ninja.
In northern California, foothill yellow-legged tadpoles are developing into juvenile frogs with missing legs and eyes, like the animal seen above in 2008. These deformities are possibly caused by outbreaks of an alien parasite from Eurasia that usually attacks fish used in aquaculture and the aquarium trade, a new study says.
Anchor worms flourished in the South Fork Eel River in 2006 and 2008, when heat waves pushed maximum weekly average water temperatures to 75 degrees Fahrenheit (23.7 degrees Celsius), researchers found. (See map.)
Those years were also drier than normal, corralling tadpoles into smaller pools and making them sitting ducks for parasites.
Once the parasitic crustaceans enter the gills of a tadpole victim, they feed off the tadpole's tissues until male and female parasites mate. The male dies soon after. Meanwhile the fertilized female bores her way partially out of the tadpole.
The female worm's head and part of its body then morph into an anchor-like growth attached to the base of the tadpole's tail or to its legs. The parasite's egg sac is attached to this external growth, but part of the female parasite remains inside the tadpole's body and damages internal tissues.
(Related: "Pesticides, Parasite May Cause Frog Deformities.")
It's unclear whether this damage is responsible for the young Eel River frogs' striking defects, said study co-author Alessandro Catenazzi, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Berkeley. But the team has found that many deformed frogs are infected.
The researchers also noticed that the most common malformations occur in the hind limbs—and in some cases the legs are missing altogether. Missing eyes are rare, he said, with only two cases recorded so far.
Infected frogs also tend to be smaller, making them weaker and less likely to survive the winter, according to the study, led by UC Berkeley's Sarah Kupferberg and published online in August in the journal Copeia.
Throughout California, dam construction and river flow management for irrigation, among other factors, have limited the yellow-legged frog's habitat, leading to a "dramatic decrease" of about 54 percent of the frog's native habitat, Catenazzi said. The frog historically was found from northern Oregon south to the San Gabriel Mountains near Los Angeles, as well as higher elevations in the Sierra Nevada.
The anchor worm is yet another blow to the vulnerable amphibians, the authors say, and climate change is expected to spur more parasite-favoring heat waves in California in the future.
—Christine Dell'Amore
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/09/090922-mutant-frogs-missing-limbs.html
In northern California, foothill yellow-legged tadpoles are developing into juvenile frogs with missing legs and eyes, like the animal seen above in 2008. These deformities are possibly caused by outbreaks of an alien parasite from Eurasia that usually attacks fish used in aquaculture and the aquarium trade, a new study says.
Anchor worms flourished in the South Fork Eel River in 2006 and 2008, when heat waves pushed maximum weekly average water temperatures to 75 degrees Fahrenheit (23.7 degrees Celsius), researchers found. (See map.)
Those years were also drier than normal, corralling tadpoles into smaller pools and making them sitting ducks for parasites.
Once the parasitic crustaceans enter the gills of a tadpole victim, they feed off the tadpole's tissues until male and female parasites mate. The male dies soon after. Meanwhile the fertilized female bores her way partially out of the tadpole.
The female worm's head and part of its body then morph into an anchor-like growth attached to the base of the tadpole's tail or to its legs. The parasite's egg sac is attached to this external growth, but part of the female parasite remains inside the tadpole's body and damages internal tissues.
(Related: "Pesticides, Parasite May Cause Frog Deformities.")
It's unclear whether this damage is responsible for the young Eel River frogs' striking defects, said study co-author Alessandro Catenazzi, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Berkeley. But the team has found that many deformed frogs are infected.
The researchers also noticed that the most common malformations occur in the hind limbs—and in some cases the legs are missing altogether. Missing eyes are rare, he said, with only two cases recorded so far.
Infected frogs also tend to be smaller, making them weaker and less likely to survive the winter, according to the study, led by UC Berkeley's Sarah Kupferberg and published online in August in the journal Copeia.
Throughout California, dam construction and river flow management for irrigation, among other factors, have limited the yellow-legged frog's habitat, leading to a "dramatic decrease" of about 54 percent of the frog's native habitat, Catenazzi said. The frog historically was found from northern Oregon south to the San Gabriel Mountains near Los Angeles, as well as higher elevations in the Sierra Nevada.
The anchor worm is yet another blow to the vulnerable amphibians, the authors say, and climate change is expected to spur more parasite-favoring heat waves in California in the future.
—Christine Dell'Amore
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/09/090922-mutant-frogs-missing-limbs.html
Frog Deformities: Sign of Parasites on the Rise?
September 22, 2009—You might call it a teenage mutant ninja frog—minus the ninja.
In northern California, foothill yellow-legged tadpoles are developing into juvenile frogs with missing legs and eyes, like the animal seen above in 2008. These deformities are possibly caused by outbreaks of an alien parasite from Eurasia that usually attacks fish used in aquaculture and the aquarium trade, a new study says.
Anchor worms flourished in the South Fork Eel River in 2006 and 2008, when heat waves pushed maximum weekly average water temperatures to 75 degrees Fahrenheit (23.7 degrees Celsius), researchers found. (See map.)
Those years were also drier than normal, corralling tadpoles into smaller pools and making them sitting ducks for parasites.
Once the parasitic crustaceans enter the gills of a tadpole victim, they feed off the tadpole's tissues until male and female parasites mate. The male dies soon after. Meanwhile the fertilized female bores her way partially out of the tadpole.
The female worm's head and part of its body then morph into an anchor-like growth attached to the base of the tadpole's tail or to its legs. The parasite's egg sac is attached to this external growth, but part of the female parasite remains inside the tadpole's body and damages internal tissues.
(Related: "Pesticides, Parasite May Cause Frog Deformities.")
It's unclear whether this damage is responsible for the young Eel River frogs' striking defects, said study co-author Alessandro Catenazzi, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Berkeley. But the team has found that many deformed frogs are infected.
The researchers also noticed that the most common malformations occur in the hind limbs—and in some cases the legs are missing altogether. Missing eyes are rare, he said, with only two cases recorded so far.
Infected frogs also tend to be smaller, making them weaker and less likely to survive the winter, according to the study, led by UC Berkeley's Sarah Kupferberg and published online in August in the journal Copeia.
Throughout California, dam construction and river flow management for irrigation, among other factors, have limited the yellow-legged frog's habitat, leading to a "dramatic decrease" of about 54 percent of the frog's native habitat, Catenazzi said. The frog historically was found from northern Oregon south to the San Gabriel Mountains near Los Angeles, as well as higher elevations in the Sierra Nevada.
The anchor worm is yet another blow to the vulnerable amphibians, the authors say, and climate change is expected to spur more parasite-favoring heat waves in California in the future.
—Christine Dell'Amore
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/09/090922-mutant-frogs-missing-limbs.html
In northern California, foothill yellow-legged tadpoles are developing into juvenile frogs with missing legs and eyes, like the animal seen above in 2008. These deformities are possibly caused by outbreaks of an alien parasite from Eurasia that usually attacks fish used in aquaculture and the aquarium trade, a new study says.
Anchor worms flourished in the South Fork Eel River in 2006 and 2008, when heat waves pushed maximum weekly average water temperatures to 75 degrees Fahrenheit (23.7 degrees Celsius), researchers found. (See map.)
Those years were also drier than normal, corralling tadpoles into smaller pools and making them sitting ducks for parasites.
Once the parasitic crustaceans enter the gills of a tadpole victim, they feed off the tadpole's tissues until male and female parasites mate. The male dies soon after. Meanwhile the fertilized female bores her way partially out of the tadpole.
The female worm's head and part of its body then morph into an anchor-like growth attached to the base of the tadpole's tail or to its legs. The parasite's egg sac is attached to this external growth, but part of the female parasite remains inside the tadpole's body and damages internal tissues.
(Related: "Pesticides, Parasite May Cause Frog Deformities.")
It's unclear whether this damage is responsible for the young Eel River frogs' striking defects, said study co-author Alessandro Catenazzi, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Berkeley. But the team has found that many deformed frogs are infected.
The researchers also noticed that the most common malformations occur in the hind limbs—and in some cases the legs are missing altogether. Missing eyes are rare, he said, with only two cases recorded so far.
Infected frogs also tend to be smaller, making them weaker and less likely to survive the winter, according to the study, led by UC Berkeley's Sarah Kupferberg and published online in August in the journal Copeia.
Throughout California, dam construction and river flow management for irrigation, among other factors, have limited the yellow-legged frog's habitat, leading to a "dramatic decrease" of about 54 percent of the frog's native habitat, Catenazzi said. The frog historically was found from northern Oregon south to the San Gabriel Mountains near Los Angeles, as well as higher elevations in the Sierra Nevada.
The anchor worm is yet another blow to the vulnerable amphibians, the authors say, and climate change is expected to spur more parasite-favoring heat waves in California in the future.
—Christine Dell'Amore
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/09/090922-mutant-frogs-missing-limbs.html
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Deadly Parasite Could Endanger Salmon And Trout Populations In U.K.
Stocks of the UK’s Atlantic salmon along with varieties of domestic brown trout could be under threat from a deadly parasite according to research led by Bournemouth University (BU) and published in the International Journal of Parasitology.
Lead author of the paper Dr Rodolphe Gozlan believes the disease is a rosette agent or parasite first identified in the UK in 2005. The agent - Sphaerothecum destruens – was originally found in the US and is closely associated with ‘invasive’ fish species including topmouth gudgeon and could prove deadly to native salmonids (Atlantic salmon, brown trout).
Young brown trout
Atlantic salmon
Dr Gozlan and his colleagues from the University of California-Davis, State University of New York, the UK’s Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and Cardiff University have found the first record of the new infective parasite rosette agent outside North America.
In his previous research (Nature, 2005), Dr Gozlan initially found that the parasite poses a severe threat to some freshwater fish species in Europe. The latest findings have serious implications in understanding the potential risk posed by the association in the UK of this disease, the rosette agent, with invasive fish species.
North American isolates of the rosette agent have been shown to cause both high morbidity and mortality in various salmonid species including Atlantic salmon, brown and rainbow trout. Analysis of the European strain indicates a degree of isolation between European and North American rosette agent populations.
“Unlike in the US, the occurrence of this agent in invasive fish presents a major risk of spread from wild invasive populations to sympatric populations of susceptible native fish,” said Dr Gozlan, an Associate Professor in Conservation Ecology within BU’s School of Conservation Sciences. “As such it represents a risk for fisheries and commercial aquaculture, as movement of fish for stocking purposes is common practice.”
Dr Gozlan and his colleagues say more work is required to determine the extent of the threat to UK and European fish diversity. They have already observed the rapid demise of the sunbleak (Leucaspius delineatus) in parts of Europe in the last forty years following the spread of a healthy carrier – the Asian topmouth gudgeon - the most invasive fish species in Europe. As a result, the sunbleak species is now on the European list of threatened freshwater fishes.
Scientists at Bournemouth University have so far found 26 populations of topmouth gudgeon across England and Wales in rivers, enclosed lakes and sites connected to the river network. Catchments at risk from invasion include the Kent, Yorkshire Ouse, Trent, Thames, Medway, Itchen, Test and Severn.
“The new parasite has also been shown to affect other UK freshwater fish such as bream, carp and roach so there is an urgent need to develop more sensitive detection tools of the rosette agent if responsible authorities want a chance to control its spread and limit future outbreaks,” concluded Dr. Gozlan.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090617155011.htm
Journal reference:
Rodolphe E. Gozlana, Christopher M. Whippsb, Demetra Andreouc and Kristen D. Arkushe. Identification of a rosette-like agent as Sphaerothecum destruens, a multi-host fish pathogenstar, open. International Journal of Parasitology
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