Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/06/11
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]And between us, we've covered the northern and southern hemisphere. :-) Jeffery At 06:09 PM 6/11/2003 -0700, you wrote: >Hello all, > > >The parasites from animals typically don't develop normally in > humans >and, as a result, wander all over wreaking havoc until they die. > The >worst may be Lagochilascaris, which I studied in the 1970's. > This >takes up residence in the tissues of the neck (usually) and is able > to >reproduce there. Horrible death. > >There can't be too many non-parasitology lists to which two >parasitologists subscribe. > >There are other impressively terrible zoonoses (infections normally found >in animals that occur in humans). > >When the roundworm (nematode) Angiostrongylus cantonensis, which is >normally a parasite of rats, infects humans, the larvae migrate through >the nervous tissues of the spine and brain, often causing death after an >awful meningo-encephalitis. > >Echinococcus multilocularis causes alveolar echinococcosis in humans, in >which the intermediate stage of the tapeworm buds outwards, rather than >forming a single cyst that grows in size as does the more common and >closely related hydatid E. granulosis. By the time of diagnosis of >alveolar echinococcosis, the tapeworm has sometimes invaded so many >tissues that removal is impossible and the infection can be fatal. Death >in these cases occurs in a very similar manner to a slow metastatic >cancer. Fortunately drug treatment is often curative, but of course is >dependent on a correct diagnosis. > > >Bird schistosomes usually produce the world's worst itching for a >week, > but no serious health problems. From wading in salt water. > Human >schistosomiasis is from wading in fresh water. It is nasty for > the >long term. > >Swimmer's itch in Australia is most often contracted in fresh water. They >itch like hell. Human schistosomes have been shown to have a lifespan of >over 30 years. If you get 'em and don't treat 'em you've almost got a >friend for life. > >In Africa, surely the best (and Kyle Cassidy's favourite parasite!) thing >to avoid is the guinea worm, Dracunculis medinensis, which you get by >drinking water contaminated by infected cyclopoid copepods (a tiny >crustacean). The guinea worm grows to a meter or more in length and lives >under the skin on your leg. The head end pokes out a hole the worm makes >in your leg and lays eggs into water when your foot is submerged. The >traditional fix is to slowly wind the worm out on a stick. Lovely. > >Warning: some of these links have some pretty gruesome images on them: >http://www.who.int/ctd/dracun/disease.htm >http://www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/~parasite/dracunculus.html > >And people wonder why I studied parasites - fascinating! > >Marty > >_____________________________________________________________ >Get your Free Global name@sharkattacks.com e-mail address at >http://www.sharkattacks.com > >_____________________________________________________________ >Select your own custom email address for FREE! Get you@yourchoice.com w/No >Ads, 6MB, POP & more! http://www.everyone.net/selectmail?campaign=tag >-- >To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html