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Parasite turns wasp into zombie then drills through its head
It’s Russian dolls of nature’s manipulators: a wasp that fools oak trees to make it a crypt to live in is in turn made to drill a route out of the crypt by another wasp.
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Explorers find disease-cursed City of the Monkey God and nearly lose their faces to flesh-eating parasite
Legend has it that the locals fled Honduras’ City of the Monkey God in the 16th century fearing that it had been cursed with disease. Five-hundred years later, a group of explorers excavating the lost city became the latest victims to incur the wrath of the monkey god when they nearly lost their faces to a rare flesh-eating parasite. “The parasite migrates to the mucous membranes of your mouth and your nose and basically eats them away,” Doug Preston, an author who documented the trip, said. “Your nose falls off, your lips fall off, and eventually your face becomes a gigantic, open sore.”
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How a mosquito bite led to paralysis — and turned this teacher's life upside down
The virus rode inside the salivary glands of the mosquito as the insect flew crosswind over northeast Los Angeles in search of a blood meal. It was looking for a bird — a finch, sparrow or robin, the preferred targets — and it found Missy Morris.
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Brain-Eating Amoeba Is Killing Paddlers in the South
A recent tragedy in North Carolina has stirred up alarm over a common but mysterious water-borne organism that kills nearly every person it infects. By Sam Boykin.
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Why cat poop is a threat to Hawaiian geese
The nene Hawaiian goose is at risk from Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite spread by cat poop.
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A peek into the National Parasite Collection’s most fascinating creepy-crawlies
You won't be able to see any of the 20 million or so creatures in the U.S. National Parasite Collection for a while because displays take a few years to create. In the meantime, here are some of the collection’s most fascinating creepy-crawlies. By Bonnie Berkowitz and Lazaro Gamio.
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A Parasite, Leopards, and a Primate’s Fear and Survival
The parasite Toxoplasma gondii may affect the behavior of chimpanzees — and possibly other primates — toward a natural predator, a study finds. By Carl Zimmer. (Feb. 16)
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Our Six Favorite Parasites Discovered in 2015
The only end-of-year list you need to read.
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Our Parasites And Vermin Reveal Secrets Of Human History
The mites that live on our faces may help reveal where our ancestors came from. It wouldn't be the first time that creepy crawlies have revealed something more than skin deep about the human past. By Rae Ellen Bichell.
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Engrossing portraits of parasites and the creatures they zombify
Anand Varma photographs parasitic organisms and their zombified hosts. It's a little bit terrifying and a whole lot of awesome. By Alyssa Coppelman.
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Intestinal worms may help women get pregnant more often
Parasites may induce immune system changes that promote reproduction
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