parasite

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We're Closer Than Ever to Realizing Jimmy Carter's Dream

Only 13 cases of Guinea worm disease were reported in 2022

(Newser) - The planet got incrementally closer to eradicating Guinea worm disease last year. The Carter Center on Tuesday announced there were just 13 cases of the disease reported worldwide in 2022, down two from the year prior for a 13% drop (the initial count of 14 was later confirmed to be...

Wolf Researchers: 'We Just Open-Mouthed Stared at Each Other'


Wolf Researchers:
'We Just
Open-Mouthed
Stared at Each Other'
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Wolf Researchers: 'We Just Open-Mouthed Stared at Each Other'

Wolves infected with a brain parasite are more likely to lead their pack, study suggests

(Newser) - What compels some animals—maybe even humans—to become leaders of their pack? A new study suggests the answer could be surprisingly simple: a brain parasite. Researchers studying Yellowstone wolves discovered that those infected with a parasite called Toxoplasma gondii are more likely to become pack leaders or to roam...

Number of People Getting Sick in Their Pools Is Rising: CDC

Parasites from fecal matter are more prevalent, thanks to people with diarrhea: CDC

(Newser) - Summer is here, meaning pool season is here, meaning ... hello, parasite overlords? Per USA Today , the CDC reports that each year, between June and August, there's a marked increase in the number of sicknesses from the cryptosporidium, or crypto, parasite found in "treated recreational waters." And from...

Doctors Found Tapeworm Egg in Woman's Brain —and Cheered

They'd expected to find a cancerous tumor

(Newser) - A New York woman was super pumped to learn she had a "gross" tapeworm egg in her brain—because it meant the lump wasn't a cancerous tumor as doctors had suspected. "What we saw in surgery was not at all what we were expecting," Dr. Jonathan...

Unwashed Produce May Have Led to Rat Lungworm Parasite

Hawaii has 5 cases so far this year

(Newser) - Rat lungworm disease has again reared its ugly head in Hawaii, specifically the Big Island, where five people have fallen ill this year. None are quite sure how they were infected with the parasitic worm, though one traveler recalls "eating many homemade salads" on a trip, while another had...

His Friends Dared Him to Eat a Slug. He Died 8 Years Later

Sam Ballard contracted parasitic infection after challenge by pals in 2010

(Newser) - "In a single night, his life … changed forever." So says the host of an Australian TV show in her tribute column to Sam Ballard, a young man who took an ill-advised dare from his friends in 2010 and just died from complications related to that challenge. The...

Over 400 Get Sick Eating McDonald's Salads

The CDC points to the parasite infection called Cyclospora

(Newser) - People are continuing to get sick from a nasty parasitic infection the CDC has linked to McDonald's salads, UPI reports. The number of people hit with the Cyclospora parasite rose to 436 this week, up from 395 last week, with cases clustering in the Midwest (Illinois especially) and spreading...

After BMJ Shares Cheeky Photos, Embarrassed Couple Butts In
They Were Treated
for a Parasite.
Then Their Butts
Were Everywhere
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

They Were Treated for a Parasite. Then Their Butts Were Everywhere

'BMJ' withdraws journal article after embarrassed patients complain about the exposure

(Newser) - After suffering painful red rashes on their backsides, a husband and wife were left red in the face—so much so that a case study of their ordeal has now been pulled from the prestigious British Medical Journal. As BMJ tells the Washington Post , the British pair whose bottoms became...

'I Looked at It. It Was Moving' Woman Pulls Worms From Eyes

Oregon woman plagued by parasite that plagues cattle

(Newser) - An Oregon woman who had worms coming out of her eye is being called the first known human case of a parasitic infection spread by flies. Fourteen tiny worms were removed from the left eye of the 26-year-old woman in August 2016. Scientists reported the case Monday. The woman, Abby...

Doctors Warn of Painful Parasite Hiding in Your Sushi

Cases of anisakiasis are on the rise in the West

(Newser) - Beware your next Seattle roll ; doctors say it could contain something that should never be found in sushi (besides cream cheese): a "worm-like" parasite. A paper published Thursday in BMJ Case Reports says cases of anisakiasis are on the rise in the West due to the increasing popularity of...

Honeymooners in Maui Return Home With Rat Parasite

'Like somebody was taking a hot knife and just stabbing me'

(Newser) - On the surface, it was the best of times. Ben Manilla, 64, and Eliza Lape, 57, eloped during a trip to Maui in January, a time Lape calls "a perfect two weeks," reports Maui News . But underneath, it was the worst of times, as a rat parasite was...

Brain-Infecting Worm Booming in Popular Vacation Destination

Sharp uptick in cases of rat lungworm disease on Maui

(Newser) - A parasitic worm that infects people's brains is turning up more frequently on Maui, and Hawaiian officials are getting worried. "It’s like having a slow-moving bullet go through your brain," says state epidemiologist Dr. Sarah Park, per the AP , explaining the effects of rat lungworm disease....

Study Offers Good News for Cat Owners

Owning a cat doesn't boost risk of mental illness: study

(Newser) - New research is sure to get cat owners purring: Despite suggestions that cats may boost one's risk of psychiatric disorders and other mental illnesses , a new study finds people who grow up in a house with cats are no more likely to suffer from mental illness than those who...

From 3.5M Cases to Just 25: a Disease Nearly Vanquished

Jimmy Carter's efforts to fight Guinea worm disease have left just 3 countries affected

(Newser) - Jimmy Carter, who's been working for decades to eradicate Guinea worm disease, says only 25 human cases of the illness were reported worldwide in 2016. When the Carter Center joined the battle to eliminate Guinea worm disease in the mid-1980s, there were about 3.5 million cases in 21...

Tapeworm Thought to Be Only in Asian Salmon Found in US

'They're wild animals. They're going to have parasites'

(Newser) - It turns out that a parasite thought to be confined to fish from Asia is in fish around the US, too. Researchers identified the Japanese broad tapeworm, aka Diphyllobothrium nihonkaiense , in wild pink salmon caught off Alaska, they report in a study in the CDC's Emerging Infectious Diseases journal....

'I Dodged All Those Bullets, Then Get Killed by a Fish': Vietnam Vet

Veterans afflicted with rare cancer brought on by fish-borne parasite

(Newser) - They were the lucky ones who managed to make it home from Vietnam. Now, a half-century later, some veterans are finding out they, too, are victims of the war. The enemy is a known killer in parts of Asia: parasites ingested in raw or poorly cooked river fish, the AP...

Deadly Parasitic Creature Spreading Through S. Florida

Invasive New Guinea flatworm has migrated from Miami to southwest coast

(Newser) - You may think you can avoid coming into contact with the New Guinea flatworm by simply not visiting New Guinea, but the critter is closer to home than you might guess. Per the Palm Beach Post , the potentially deadly parasite is proliferating throughout South Florida, slithering from where it was...

Girl's 'Appendicitis' Turns Out to Be Worms

Doctors got quite the surprise during her appendectomy

(Newser) - A teenager in the UK who showed up at a hospital's pediatric unit complaining of stomach pain ended up getting an appendectomy—but it was something else entirely that had caused her distress, per an article in BMJ Case Reports . Doctors weren't 100% sure that the 15-year-old had...

1st-Ever Endemic Malaria Found in US Mammals

Scientists stumble on find at the National Zoo

(Newser) - Talk about a surprise: Two years ago, scientists researching avian malaria happened to learn that two strains of the parasite are infecting white-tailed deer—possibly 25% of those living on the East Coast, Smithsonian reports. Until then, no endemic malaria had been seen in North or South American mammals. "...

Parasite Tied to Poop-Infected Cilantro Hits 26 States

384 Americans have had cyclosporiasis this year: CDC, FDA

(Newser) - The number of Americans this year affected by a nasty stomach bug tied to poop-contaminated cilantro has reached 384 across 26 states, including Texas, Wisconsin, and Georgia, authorities say, per CNN . The CDC and FDA say the outbreak of cyclosporiasis—appearing in the US for a fourth summer in a...

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