The Eye-Inflating FlatwormList
of incredibly dangerous parasites starts with Leucochloridium paradoxum
– these flatworm’s eggs when eaten accidentally by a snail, the
parasite develops in the gastropod’s body and fills the eye stalks with
the sack of larvae. The snail’s stalk appears wriggle resembling little
caterpillars. The birds get attracted thinking it’s a caterpillar and
that’s the next stage of the parasite to move on to its next life-cycle.
The infected snail heads out to the open. Even if it manages to survive
one assassination attempt, the parasite filled stalk will grow back and
will make it prone to further such attacks.
9. The Zombie Wasp
THE ZOMBIE WASPAmpulex
compressa – This wasp preys on cockroaches and turn them into zombies
that start feeding on their young. The female wasp stings straight into
the brain of the roaches, disabling them from escape reflex. The female
wasp then leads the roach back to her underground nest, lays her egg on
its belly and seals it in. The larvae hatches and borrows themselves
into the body of the roach where they devours the insect from inside and
form a cocoon. Later they emerge out from the insect body as a new
adult.
8. The Tongue-Eating Sea Louse
The Tongue-Eating Sea LouseCymothoa
exigua – This is one unique parasite that not only eats its host body
parts but also replaces entirely everything that it has eaten. This sea
louse makes it house inside the fish mouth and feeds on the blood from
the tongue till the organ withers away. The parasite very cleverly
attaches itself to the remaining stump and continues to feed on blood
and mucus in the mouth. It may seem as a consolation that the fish can
use the louse exactly as its own tongue.
7. The Eye worm
The Eye wormLoa
Loa – The larva of this nematode infects the human eyes when flies
bite. The adult is known to travel through the body’s tissue for years.
They are most common in west and central Africa. The common symptom
includes itching, swelling. For very unlucky victims they even damage
brain. The worm becomes apparent only when they reach eye. There they
can easily be seen and to the horror of the victim, it is even felt as
it squirms across the soft tissue just beneath the cornea. This is also
the time when worm can easily be removed using local anesthetic.
6. The Dragon Worm
The Dragon WormAt
the 6th of the all incredibly dangerous parasites, is commonly known as
the Guinea worm, or Dracunculus which means ‘little dragon’ in Latin. A
person gets infected while drinking water contaminated with tiny water
fleas that are already infected with the larva. Once it makes its way in
to the body, the spaghetti-like female worm grows up to one meter long
and emerges through the skin, usually from legs or feet resulting in
immense pain. The pain lasts for weeks and there are no vaccine to
prevent from this disease. The only way known to get this worm out of
the body is to gradually wrap the worm around the stick as it comes out.
5. The head-Splitting Fungus
The head-Splitting FungusAs
the name suggests this fungi infiltrates the body of the ant and
controls the behavior. Once it’s done it burst out of the head. The
infected ants are expelled out of their colonies since they get
disoriented after being infected. These outcast ants climb the top of
the nearest plant where they clutch the stem tightly and die. When the
fungus matures its fruiting body blooms out of the ant’s head. The
spores are spread by the wind from the fruiting body. The spores are
then carried with the wind to infect other hosts.
4. The sex change Bacteria
The sex change BacteriaWolbachia,
these bacteria doesn’t like males. These bacteria pass into their
host’s offspring in egg cells and do not require males. They often kill
infected males or even force them to change their sex. They can actually
make the male roles redundant by enabling virgin births. Wolbachia have
been found in human bodies as well. But not to worry, they have the
ability to manipulate only male invertebrates such as insect and worms
etc.
3. The Vampire Fish
The Vampire FishThis
tiny, eel like looking candiru, Vandellia cirrhosa is found in Amazon.
It feeds on other fishes by swimming into the gills of the other fishes
and feasting on their blood. It even preys on humans as well by entering
their orifice (such as the anus). It lodges itself using
backwards-facing spines. It often bloats on its blood meal and dies
there. Only a surgery can get it out from there.
2. The Mind Control Bug
The Mind Control BugThis
is brain washing and one of the incredibly dangerous parasites. This
parasite infects rodents by affecting their brains and eliminating their
fear of cats. The helpless victims are easily observed, caught and
eaten. The bug after reproducing passes out of the cat. The bug again is
eaten by the next rodent host. This is the life-cycle of the bug.
However the Toxoplasma can also find their way into human bodies when
they eat raw or undercooked meats. Though it rarely affects felines ,
strange behaviors have been observed in the humans. It is also observed
that they slow down the reaction time.
1. The womb-Hijacking Barnacles
Most dangerous Parasite : Womb-Hijacking BarnaclesThe
womb is succeeding the list of incredibly dangerous parasites. Female
Sacculina finds crab and slides inside at the joints. It spreads it
feeding tube throughout the host’s body. Its reproductive system emerges
at the female crab’s brood pouch. If the host crab is male then the
parasite simply manipulate the hormone of crab for it to behave more
feminine. The male parasite then fertilizes and turns the crab into
parasite factory. The crab protects the eggs in a similar fashion as a
mother would protect her own offspring.
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