This eye worm, once only found in livestock, is cozying up to humans

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Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/02/13/this-eye-worm-once-only-found.html

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In total, she wound up pulling five worms out of herself

I see a pattern here.

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There are also some habits you can avoid to prevent infestation.

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How fucking lovely.
Now where did I put my eye bleach…

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Ug. One more goddam thing to freak out about. Where does it all end?

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Nope.

Nope nope.

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Not to be confused with eyelash mites.

Recently, a study of 29 adults (18 and over) in North Carolina, US, found that 70% of those 18 years of age carried mites, and that all adults over 18 (n = 19) carried them. This study (using a DNA detection method, more sensitive than traditional sampling and observation by microscope), along with several studies of cadavers, suggests that previous work might have underestimated the mites’ prevalence. However, the small sample size and small geographical area involved prevent drawing broad conclusions from these data.

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I was told that, years ago, a technician in the parasitology department of Cambridge University had a benign Loa loa worm infection; when he could feel it moving across his eye he would call all the students over to have a look.

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Yet another reason not to cuddle your chickens.

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Kate is a great source of horrified reaction gifs.

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NokRdiB

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Isn’t it amazing the amount of work “God” put into these incredibly nasty parasites? And this one is mild. There are far worse eye parasites including those that live in the eyeball itself.

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between this news and the robots who can open doors for each other, it’s a wonder i got any sleep last night at all.

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Yuck – eye worms! What could be grosser?

Then I remembered The Matrix:

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Benign eyeball worms.
Benign eyeball worms.
Benign. Eyeball. Worms.

Nope.
devitoidontlikeit

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Ah, amateurs.

Professionals source their worms from raccoons.

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