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+30 +1
Would You Eat Parasitic Worm Eggs? Why One Company Wants to Sell Them As Food
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+27 +1
The Parasite That Wires Plants Together
By draining the fluids from several hosts, dodder vines inadvertently allow plants to communicate with each other and share alarm signals. By Ed Yong.
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+2 +1
Zombies Are Real, and Closer Than You Think
Etomologist Don Steinkraus takes a look at beetles whose limbs keep moving, despite appearing to be quite dead. What's going on here.
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+27 +1
Six Horrifying Parasites (That Could Be Inside You Right Now)
Warning: Gross pics contained within. By Leanne Louie.
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+33 +1
‘Zombie ant’ brains left intact by fungal parasite
A fungal parasite that infects ants and manipulates their behavior to benefit the fungus’ reproduction accomplishes this feat without infecting the ants’ brains, according to a study led by Penn State researchers. By Chuck Gill.
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+12 +1
Bunnies With Head Tilts Can Live Happily Ever After
Bunnies whose head tilts become permanent can still live happy, healthy lives—if the underlying cause is treated quickly.
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+13 +1
'Dozens of worms in my feet'
Windsor couple Eddie Zytner and Katie Stephens are regretting a recent trip to the Caribbean — but so would anybody who came home with parasites burrowing in their feet. Windsor couple Eddie Zytner and Katie Stephens can’t help but regret a recent trip to the Caribbean — but so would anybody who came home with parasites burrowing in their feet. “I have dozens of worms in my feet, and so does Katie,” said Zytner, 25, on Friday. “It’s kind of sickening to think about.”
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+20 +1
Doctors remove sea snail living, growing inside 11-year-old's skin
New Delhi: In the first recorded case of its kind in medical literature, doctors removed a tiny sea snail from inside an 11-year-old's abscess. The boy, it appeared, had grazed his elbow while playing in a tidal pool in California, which harbors thousands of molluscs. Doctors believe that a snail egg must have found its way into the wound, hatched and then grew, triggering an abscess – a painful collection of pus caused by an infection – before it was removed.
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+2 +1
Nasty, 3ft-long parasitic worms are on the cusp of being wiped from the planet
It all starts with a sip of water that’s contaminated with the worm’s larvae. Inside a human host, the larvae punch through the digestive tract, entering into the body cavity to quietly grow. Within a few months, the male and female worms meet and mate. Then the males die off. The surviving female worms mature, reaching 60 to 100 centimeters (2 to 3 feet), and migrate into the victim’s muscles. About 10 to 14 months after that tainted drink, the female worms burn through the skin by oozing acid, creating a searing blister. This can happen anywhere in the body, but it’s usually in the legs or feet.
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+13 +1
Parasites Can Mind-Control Animals Without Infecting Them
In 2018, everything is a metaphor. By Ed Yong.
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+11 +1
The macabre world of mind-controlling parasites
Many parasites can control the behavior of their hosts -- sometimes in very gruesome ways. A new article published today describes some of the sophisticated interactions between a variety of parasites and their hosts, and highlights how the new field of neuro-parasitology could provide insights into the neurological basis for behavior and decision-making. (May 1, 2018)
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+33 +1
Meet the tick that’s forcing Americans to give up their meat
Lone star ticks hunt in packs and spread an allergy to beef and pork. Thanks to climate change, they’re spreading. By Zoya Teirstein.
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+2 +1
Business students more likely to have a brain parasite spread by cats
An analysis of students in the US has found that those who have a certain type of brain parasite are more likely to be majoring in business studies. Toxoplasma gondii is a protozoan parasite carried by cats. It can infect people through contact with cat faeces, poorly cooked meat, or contaminated water, and as many as one-third of the world’s population may be infected.
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+10 +1
Is This Fungus Using a Virus To Control An Animal's Mind?
An unusual detective story. By Ed Yong.
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+19 +1
This Freaky Parasitic Vine Preys on Parasitic Wasps, And We Just Can't Deal
Parasitic gall wasps have some of the freshest cribs nature has to offer.
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+17 +1
Climate change, overharvesting may doom a pricey parasite
A parasitic fungus that grows wild throughout the Himalayas and sells for more than its weight in gold could vanish if current harvesting and climate trends continue, according to new research from Stanford University.
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+12 +1
Gut worms may be healthy - research
The research, published in Mucosal Immunology, found that the presence of intestinal parasites provides long-lasting protection against infection from other species of parasites in other organs. The Malaghan Institute of Medical Research's Dr Kara Filbey, said worms had evolved to manipulate their host's immune system, to prevent it from killing them.
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+17 +1
Infected ‘Zombie Spiders’ Forced to Build Incubation Chambers for Their Parasitic Overlords
Parasites that control the behavior of their hosts for their own benefit are a well-documented natural phenomenon, but the discovery of a previously unknown relationship between a parasitic wasp and a social spider is particularly upsetting.
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+11 +1
Using human head lice to unravel neglect and cause of death
Despite the common association of human lice with abandoned or neglected people, no procedure to assess pediculosis, aimed to detect signs of neglect, exists. Investigating the two most common forms of head louse infestation, regular and severe, we define lice-markers of neglect and develop a protocol and survey form to record and assess pediculosis. The study of head lice from a deceased victim of neglect helped unravel time-length since death, frequency of exposure to neglect and the cause and circumstances related to the death. Nit-clusters are markers of neglect, indicating length and frequency of neglect episodes.
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+13 +1
'Amazing' News About The Awful Guinea Worm
Scratch another Guinea worm hot spot off the list. One of the countries hardest hit with the parasite — South Sudan — has finally stopped transmission, the Carter Center announced Wednesday. The country reported zero cases in 2017 and hasn't had a case in 15 months. There are also no signs Guinea worm is circulating in dogs in South Sudan, as it is in Chad and Mali.
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