Sep 26, 2021 03:45 AM
(This post was last modified: Sep 26, 2021 04:06 AM by C C.)
https://gizmodo.com/a-mystery-worm-infec...1847738714
EXCERPT: . . . The mystery over a worm infestation found in a Vietnamese man last year has been solved, though not without adding another creepy wrinkle to the tale. The worms inside the man weren’t the Guinea worm (Dracunculus medinensis), a now-rare parasite on the brink of eradication, as originally thought. Instead, they were a related and unknown species of Dracunculus likely native to the area. Whether this other worm poses any current or future threat to humans is still unclear.
In June 2020, media outlets in Vietnam reported on the strange case of a 23-year-old man who had visited a hospital with abscesses along his limbs and neck. Doctors eventually discovered and pulled out five adult worms, each around 1 to 2 feet long, from the man’s wounds, as well as larvae. The man was given antiparasitics and no further infestations were reported.
At the time, a doctor on the case was quoted as saying that the man seemed to have Guinea worm disease, which would have been an alarming discovery for several reasons. In the 1980s, millions of people throughout Asia and Africa contracted these excruciating and sometimes permanently debilitating infections every year. But decades of grueling public health work have driven the worm to near extinction save in a few select regions of Africa. (In 2020, only 27 cases were reported in total.) Despite some setbacks lately, it’s hoped that by 2030, Guinea worm will be the second human pathogen ever fully wiped out, following smallpox. So to find the Guinea worm thousands of miles away from its last known vestiges, and in an area where it’s never been discovered, would have raised some serious concerns.
Outside experts who spoke to Gizmodo at the time were skeptical that this really was Guinea worm. Adam Weiss, director of the Guinea Worm Eradication Program at the Carter Center, a human rights organization founded by former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, even mentioned the distinct possibility that the man’s infestation was caused by another species of Dracunculus. And that theory was right on the money... (MORE - missing details)
EXCERPT: . . . The mystery over a worm infestation found in a Vietnamese man last year has been solved, though not without adding another creepy wrinkle to the tale. The worms inside the man weren’t the Guinea worm (Dracunculus medinensis), a now-rare parasite on the brink of eradication, as originally thought. Instead, they were a related and unknown species of Dracunculus likely native to the area. Whether this other worm poses any current or future threat to humans is still unclear.
In June 2020, media outlets in Vietnam reported on the strange case of a 23-year-old man who had visited a hospital with abscesses along his limbs and neck. Doctors eventually discovered and pulled out five adult worms, each around 1 to 2 feet long, from the man’s wounds, as well as larvae. The man was given antiparasitics and no further infestations were reported.
At the time, a doctor on the case was quoted as saying that the man seemed to have Guinea worm disease, which would have been an alarming discovery for several reasons. In the 1980s, millions of people throughout Asia and Africa contracted these excruciating and sometimes permanently debilitating infections every year. But decades of grueling public health work have driven the worm to near extinction save in a few select regions of Africa. (In 2020, only 27 cases were reported in total.) Despite some setbacks lately, it’s hoped that by 2030, Guinea worm will be the second human pathogen ever fully wiped out, following smallpox. So to find the Guinea worm thousands of miles away from its last known vestiges, and in an area where it’s never been discovered, would have raised some serious concerns.
Outside experts who spoke to Gizmodo at the time were skeptical that this really was Guinea worm. Adam Weiss, director of the Guinea Worm Eradication Program at the Carter Center, a human rights organization founded by former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, even mentioned the distinct possibility that the man’s infestation was caused by another species of Dracunculus. And that theory was right on the money... (MORE - missing details)