parasites

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First Human Screwworm Case Confirmed in US
First Human Screwworm
Case Confirmed in US
in case you missed it
Aug 30, 2025 1:00 PM CDT

First Human Screwworm Case Confirmed in US

Patient had recently traveled to Central America

(Newser) - The New World screwworm sounds like something out of a nightmare —and it is officially now in the US. The Department of Health and Human Services on Sunday confirmed the first human case of the flesh-eating parasite in the country, Reuters reports. The case is travel-associated: The Maryland resident...

US Halts Cattle, Horse Imports From Mexico

Dangerous screwworm fly parasite has been detected around 700 miles south of border

(Newser) - The US has halted all imports of live cattle, horses, and bison from Mexico—and officials say the move isn't connected to tariffs. Authorities say they are trying to prevent the spread of the New World screwworm fly, a parasite the US eliminated almost 60 years ago, USA Today...

After Trip, Her Legs Were Burning. Culprit: a Brain Worm
Woman's Unwelcome Souvenir
From Trip: a Brain Worm
in case you missed it
Feb 23, 2025 3:10 PM CST

Woman's Unwelcome Souvenir From Trip: a Brain Worm

Parasite contracted in Hawaii or Southeast Asia caused patient's legs to feel like they were burning

(Newser) - A woman on a whirlwind three-week junket to Hawaii, Japan, and Thailand returned home with an unwanted memento: a parasite that embedded itself in her brain and made her legs feel like they were burning. That odd sensation started out in the New England 30-year-old's feet after she got...

Jimmy Carter's Long War: Guinea Worm Disease

Former president waged a relentless campaign to eradicate debilitating disease over 4 decades

(Newser) - Jimmy Carter spent nearly four decades waging war to eliminate an ancient parasite plaguing the world's poorest people. Rarely fatal but searingly painful and debilitating, Guinea worm disease infects people who drink water tainted with larvae that grow inside the body into worms as long as 3 feet. The...

Undercooked Bear Meat Gives Family Brain Worms

CDC reports on the strange 2022 case

(Newser) - Six members of a family became infected with brain worms after undercooked bear meat was served at a family gathering. The CDC reports on the strange case from 2022, in which a 29-year-old Minnesota man was the first to be diagnosed. Over a two-and-a-half week period, he was hospitalized more...

Man's Appetite for Soft Bacon Leads to Brain Parasites

Case of pork tapeworm larvae infecting brain tissue described in new study

(Newser) - A Florida man who went to his doctor complaining his migraine medication wasn't touching his increasingly frequent and painful headaches was found to have parasitic tapeworm larvae in his brain. After four months of pain, a CT scan revealed fluid-filled sacs throughout the white matter of the 52-year-old's...

Otter-Killing Parasite Also Possible Human Threat

After four sea otters died from a rare form of toxoplasmosis, scientists are warning of a threat to humans

(Newser) - After discovering four sea otters died due to infection by what a UC Davis press release termed an "unusually severe" form of toxoplasmosis, scientists are sounding an alarm. Science reports that veterinary pathologist Melissa Miller first noted the infection in a dead otter in 2020. It wasn't that...

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
Dec 3, 2022 12:10 PM CST

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...

'Those Are Not Parasites. They Are Obviously Crazy People'

Inside the rise and fall of Black Oxygen Organics

(Newser) - As far as multi-level marketing companies go, the now-defunct Black Oxygen Organics ("BOO" to its fans) belongs in a category of its own, and not a good one. That's the case Haley Weiss makes in a lengthy piece for Vice about BOO, which "was dedicated to the...

Parasite Is Hiding in Salad Mixes Across 8 States

206 people have already tested positive

(Newser) - Salad lovers, watch out: The FDA and the CDC are warning about an outbreak linked to certain salads sold at Jewel-Osco, Hy-Vee, and Walmart stores, USA Today reports. Long story short, the stores are recalling garden-salad mixes made by a Fresh Express facility in Streamwood, Illinois, and other brands may...

After Her Trail Run, a Gross Medical Rarity
After Her Trail Run,
a Gross Medical Rarity
new study
Nov 4, 2019 8:57 AM CST

After Her Trail Run, a Gross Medical Rarity

Woman is 2nd person to have parasitic worms show up in her eyes

(Newser) - A 68-year-old US woman has earned a very unwanted distinction: She is just the second human on record to show up at the doctor's office with parasitic eye worms more common to cows, reports Live Science . The unidentified woman splits her time between Nebraska and California, and researchers explain...

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...

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...

Pals Buried Him in Sand. Then, the Grossness Started

Teen develops hookworms after trip to Florida beach

(Newser) - It seemed like harmless good fun: Friends buried 17-year-old Michael Dumas of Memphis in the sand at Florida's Pompano Beach while on a church trip last month. Then came the hookworms, reports LocalMemphis . Dumas' mother, Kelli, says her son developed the parasite in one of his feet, and she...

Lump on Woman's Face Turns Out to Have Living Thing Inside

Well, this is disturbing

(Newser) - A Russian woman who watched perplexed as a lump appeared on her face and then moved from one place to the next discovered the lump was alive. Specifically, the woman had a parasitic worm, whose movement she tracked in selfies. Per LiveScience , the woman first photographed the lump below her...

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
Mar 4, 2018 12:15 PM CST

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...

Suit: Trip to Amusement Park Ended With Eye-Eating Parasite

Robert Trostle is suing Kennywood for negligence

(Newser) - Its website proclaims Kennywood "Pittsburgh's best amusement park." Robert Trostle would likely append "for contracting an eye-eating parasite" to the end of that. That's what the Squirrel Hill man is claiming happened to him during a July 2 visit to the Pennsylvania park, per a...

Study Suggests Old Parasite Is Killing Vietnam War Vets

It can take decades for symptoms of the cancer to appear

(Newser) - A half a century after serving in Vietnam, hundreds of veterans have a new reason to believe they may be dying from a silent bullet—test results show some men may have been infected by a slow-killing parasite while fighting in the jungles of Southeast Asia. The Department of Veterans...

North Korean Defector Is Ravaged by Parasites

Doctors say he's filled with them, hinting at poor diet and worse health

(Newser) - As if multiple bullet wounds weren't enough, the North Korean soldier who defected across the DMZ on Monday has "an enormous number" of parasites posing a risk to his recovery, according to South Korean doctors. "I've never seen anything like this," surgeon Lee Cook-jong says,...

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