Nematodes

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Ahso!
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Nematodes

Post by Ahso! »

That "alien worm" is actually a parasitic nematode, also known as a roundworm. While the nematode in the YouTube video is larger than most, Harvard University entomologist Dr. Brian Farrell told The Huffington Post that every human is infested with thousands of tiny nematodes.

"Most have no obvious effect on us, and we are mostly unaware of their presence," he wrote in an e-mail, "but a few are large enough to cause diseases such as trichinosis."

Parasitic Worm VIDEO Shows Huge Nematode Emerging From Dead Spider Host, Biologist Says
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Fiona Apple
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Nematodes

Post by Accountable »

Whoa! :yh_ooooo I'd love to have seen the seconds before the video started. Must've looked like something out of an alien movie. :yh_alien2
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tabby
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Post by tabby »

Ewwww!!!!!! :yh_sick

I had always heard that trichinosis could be spread by eating undercooked meat, particularly pork. I don't know how prevalent that is these days.
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Post by Oscar Namechange »

By Co-Incidence... I saw something very similar recently.... my husband called me over to his desk and said OMG you have to see this...

It was a video of police In South America pulling a dead body out of a river... they dragged the man onto the bank and laid him down face down with his head to one side... my husband told me to keep watching the small hole In the mans neck.... then over a few minutes, all manner of huge alien like worms slithered out of the hole.... ewwwww
At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them. R.L. Binyon
Ahso!
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Nematodes

Post by Ahso! »

tabby;1416432 wrote: Ewwww!!!!!! :yh_sick

I had always heard that trichinosis could be spread by eating undercooked meat, particularly pork. I don't know how prevalent that is these days. The Guinea Worm is another interesting round worm.

Guinea worm disease is caused by drinking water contaminated by water fleas (microscopic arthropods known as copepods) that host the Dracunculus larva.[9] Guinea worm disease used to thrive in some of the world's poorest areas, particularly those with limited or no access to clean water.[10] In these areas, stagnant water sources may still host copepods, which can carry the larvae of the guinea worm.

The larvae develop for approximately two weeks inside the copepods. At this stage the larvae can cause guinea worm disease if the infected copepods are not filtered from drinking water.[7] The male guinea worm is typically much smaller (12–29 mm or 0.47–1.1 in) than the female, which, as an adult, can grow to 2–3 feet (0.61–0.91 m) long and be as thick as a spaghetti noodle.[7][10]

Once inside the body, stomach acid digests the water flea, but not the guinea worm larvae that are sheltered inside. These larvae find their way to the body cavity where the female mates with a male guinea worm. This takes place approximately three months after infection. The male worm dies after mating and is absorbed.[7]

The female, which contains larvae, burrows into the deeper connective tissues or adjacent to long bones or joints of the extremities.[7]

Approximately one year after the infection began, the worm creates a blister in the human host's skin—usually on the leg or foot.[11] Within 72 hours the blister ruptures, exposing one end of the emergent worm. This blister causes a very painful burning sensation as the worm emerges. Infected persons often immerse the affected limb in water to relieve the burning sensation. Once the blister or open sore is submerged in water, the adult female releases hundreds of thousands of guinea worm larvae, contaminating the water supply.

During the next few days, the female worm is capable of releasing more larvae whenever it comes in contact with water as it extends its posterior end through the hole in the host's skin. These larvae contaminate the water supply and are eaten by copepods, thereby repeating the life-cycle of the disease. Infected copepods can live in the water for only two to three weeks if they are not ingested by a person. Infection does not create immunity, so people can repeatedly experience guinea worm disease throughout their lives.


Dracunculiasis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities,”

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Fiona Apple
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Nematodes

Post by tabby »

Ewwwww again! That is truly ... truly ... repulsive. I started my day with the green face and it looks like I'm going to end it with one as well! :yh_sick

I had never heard of the guinea worm until about 2 years ago when I was reading David Sedaris' book "When You Are Engulfed in Flames". He references an incident in Paris while staying with a friend who had been infected years before with a guinea worm. The friend's mother had also been infected with one as well. Here's a snippet of the text:

"They're minor, though, compared with what Hugh had. He was eight years old and living in the Congo when he noticed a red spot on his leg. Nothing huge — a mosquito bite, he figured. The following day, the spot became more painful, and the day after that he looked down and saw a worm poking out. A few weeks later, the same thing happened to Maw Hamrick,which is what I call Hugh's mother, Joan. Her worm was a bit shorter than her son's, not that the size really matters. If I was a child and saw something creeping out of a hole in my mother's leg, I would march to the nearest orphanage and put myself up for adoption. I would burn all pictures of her, destroy anything she had ever given me, and start all over because that is simply disgusting. A dad can be crawling with parasites and somehow it's OK, but on a mom, or any woman, really, it's unforgivable.

"Well, that's sort of chauvinistic of you, don't you think?" Maw Hamrick said. She'd come to Paris for Christmas, as had Lisa and her husband, Bob. The gifts had been opened, and she was collecting the used wrapping paper and ironing it flat with her hands. "It was just a guinea worm. People got them all the time."

At that time, I had no idea what a guinea worm was so after reading that, I came online to find some information. I shake my head at the audacity of these creatures. While utterly disgusted at their methods, I guess we do have to hand it to them ... they know how to perpetuate their species ... unfortunately.

Logging off now for the evening and hoping to erase all images created by this topic from my mind before drifting to sleep later.
Ahso!
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Nematodes

Post by Ahso! »

Sorry!
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities,”

Voltaire



I have only one thing to do and that's

Be the wave that I am and then

Sink back into the ocean

Fiona Apple
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tabby
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Nematodes

Post by tabby »

Don't be ... I was only being playful and it's a gruesomely interesting topic.

P.S. I slept fine with no images of worms.
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