Random Parasites That Could Ruin Your Next Vacation (20 items)

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  (#1) Naegleria Fowleri

  The most frightening thing about Naegleria Fowleri is that there's no way to detect it, there's no way to cure it, and it kills you 97% of the time. What happens is this: when you swim, sometimes water gets in your nose, and sometimes a particularly horrible amoeba can come with it. This amoeba travels to your skull, where it eats your brain, and eventually kills you. You cannot get it by drinking water, but swimming in hot springs, rivers, lakes, and even natural pools in tropical environments can put you at risk.
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  (#2) Ascaris

  Lets get a really gross one out of the way early, shall we? Ascaris is the most common type of roundworm, and it more commonly effects children rather than adults. It passes into your system when you drink unsafe water that is infected with human fecal matter, or come into contact with infected soil. Once inside you, these worms start at your lungs, then move to your intestines where they multiply until they can literally spill out of your butt, and sometimes your mouth or nose. While many countries have this friendly little worm, it is most commonly found in tropical and subtropical areas, such as Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa.
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  (#3) Filarial Worm

  These worms don't just make you sick, they also make you physically deformed as well. The thread-like worms are passed from mosquitoes into the blood stream, and they then make their way to the lymphatic system. Once there, the worms can make your lymph nodes malfunction, and can make parts of your body swell up, get hard and lumpy, and even develop elephantiasis. For men, a particular area of concern is the scrotum. The bug is typically found in Asia, so be sure to bring your mosquito repellant. 
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  (#4) Loa Loa

  Well, I hope you didn't want to sleep tonight, because this thing is major nightmare fuel. This horrifying parasite is also called the African Eye Worm. Can you guess why? No? Well, this worm moves from a deer fly bite into your body, where it then makes its way to your eye. (Google it if you dare.) What's worse is that it's sometimes difficult to cure, and can last for years. The one bit of good news is that you can only get it if you travel to West and Central Africa.
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  (#5) Candiru

  Gentlemen, prepare to feel very uncomfortable. This little fish, also called the vampire fish, has a habit of swimming into wounds or orifices, and then drinking the blood there. There's one known case of the fish lodging itself in a human penis (though it's rare and hotly debated), and several cases of it lodging itself in vaginal openings as well. So, besides other sanitary issues, don't go peeing in any rivers in South America, just in case. 
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  (#6) Bot Fly Larva

  The good news is that there's only one kind of bot fly larva that effects humans. The bad news is that they do nasty things to human flesh, by eating it from underneath the skin. A fly lays the larvae on the skin, and once the little guy senses warmth, it burrows underneath and begins eating. Once they get big enough, they come back through the skin and go off to become horrible egg-laying flies on their own. This happens in Central and South America, so bring layers if you travel there.
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  (#7) Chigoe Flea

  If you've heard of chiggers before, you've probably heard of this parasite. Barely visible to the naked eye, these tiny fleas eat skin, flesh, blood, or whatever part of you strikes their fancy at the time. All you need to do to get them is be full of blood, and be in an area where they are. In the United States, we often see the horrible bumps they leave behind, whereas in other countries, it can be much worse. Unfortunately these little horrors can be found throughout the world, and the ones in Africa destroy flesh like it's their job. They can even cause death.
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  (#8) Guinea Worm

  Time for more nightmare fuel. This long, hair-like worm tends to go after the feetafter being ingested though contaminated water. There is no drug to cure or prevent this parasite, but after about a year, the worm tends to emerge on its own in order to lay its eggs. The most common way to help speed this process along is to wind the worm around a stick over the course of a few weeks. You can become infected with the Guinea Worm in Asia, the Middle East, but mostly in Africa. 
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  (#9) Screw-Worm

  While this parasite mostly infects animals, it can also wreak havoc on humans. It get in when the screw fly finds an open wound somewhere on the body, and then lays her eggs next to it. The eggs then hatch, and the larvae feed on the living tissue. They even burrow into the flesh and eat their way from the inside out. Screw worm can be found in South America, some of the Caribbean Islands, Southeast Asia, Kuwait, India, Papua New Guinea, Africa, Oman, and Fujaira.
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  (#10) Leishmaniasis

  There are not one, but four problems caused by this tine parasitic protozoa. First, you're bitten by a sandfly, then you end up with the parasites in your body and blood. From there you either develop little sores that resemble leprosy all over your skin, lesions around your mouth and nose, or infected lymph nodes that eventually cause death. While the less serious forms of the bug are often found in Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Peru, and Brazil, the life-threatening kind is only found in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Brazil, and Sudan.
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  (#11) Onchocerca

  Onchocerca is also called river blindness, and it's pretty easy to guess why. This parasitic worm gets under the skin with the help of the black fly, and can cause itching, rashes, and even partial or complete blindness. Onchocerca is only found in tropical climates, with the most infections showing up in Sub-Saharan Africa. The World Health Organization estimates that 25 million people are infected worldwide right now.
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  (#12) Hookworm

  You can get this parasite through touching infected soil and then touching your mouth. The hookworm larvae then get into your body, and can go to your lungs, intestines, and even esophagus. Then, they head yo your small intestine and drink you blood, which can sometimes cause pain and anemia, all for up to a year.  Hookworm usually shows up in developing countries that have poor sanitation, but it does sometimes infect people in the United States. So be sure to wash your hands, even when you travel domestically. 
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  (#13) Tapeworm

  Tapeworms are usually easily treated and not super deadly, but you can still get them while traveling and they're still really gross. A tapeworm is a flat segmented worm that lives in the intestines. If you have one, you'll likely experience an increase in appetite, weight loss, and often times vitamin deficiency. You can get tapeworms anywhere that under-cooked and unsanitary food is being served, assuming you like to eat your steak rare. Luckily they are fairly uncommon in the United States. 
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  (#14) Toxoplasma Gondii

  This single-cell parasite is most likely to effect animals, particularly cats, but it can also attack the human body. In humans, the Toxoplasma Gondii parasite can cause body aches, swollen lymph nodes, and even seizures in people with impaired immune systems. If you're generally healthy, you won't need any treatment. Sad to say, anywhere you can find cats, chances are you can also find this parasite. 
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  (#15) Giardia Intestinalis

  If you've ever been told "don't drink the water," that's generally because you could get Giardia. This little parasite gets into your digestion when you eat contaminated food or drink contaminated water. Although it won't do too much damage to you, it can be uncomfortable and curse you with diarrhea and vomiting for two weeks or longer. Unfortunately, Giardia can be found in every region of the United States and throughout the world, so maybe going for bottled over tap water is the way to go when you travel. 
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  (#16) Dicrocoelium Dendriticum

  This is known by a much more distressing-sounding name: the lancet liver fluke. Appropriately enough, this parasite lives in the liver,  and gets into your body if you accidentally ingest an infected animal, such as an ant. It's rarely fatal, but can cause some pretty nasty liver infections. The lucky thing is that this parasite is rare in humans, but it's also found on just about every continent but South America. 
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  (#17) Pinworm

  While the pinworm parasite is generally harmless, it's definitely annoying. More commonly picked up by children, pinworms are spread through infected soil or from other infected people. It often gets into the body through nail-biting. Once in your body, the worms multiply by laying eggs around the anus at night when you're sleeping. This doesn't hurt you, but it's very itchy, and scratching just causes reinfection when you again bite your nails. These little worms can be found in many countries, and is the most common worm found in the United States.
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  (#18) Whipworm

  Aptly named for its whip-like shape, the Whipworm is a small parasite whose larvae and adult forms live in the intestines. You can get these from touching infected soil and then touching your mouth, or from eating vegetables that are not properly washed. Most of the time, you won't see any symptoms of this parasite, but sometimes they can cause bloody diarrhea, which is the exact opposite of fun. These worms are mostly found in tropical environments, and can even be found in the southern United States. 
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  (#19) The Horsehair Worm

  Also called Nematomorpha, this weird worm is most commonly found infecting crickets and destroying their brains. It can also occur in humans, though, and is known to make you vomit when ingested. Luckily, they are not harmful to humans (beside the puking), and infections are absurdly rare, with the two most recent cases being in Japan. So, if you're traveling that way, it's unlikely you'll get them, but worth keeping an eye out. 
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  (#20) Leeches

  You've probably heard of the bloodsucking leech, which is still used in some medical procedures throughout the world. Why throughout the world? Because leeches live pretty much everywhere. As long as there are shallow bodies of fresh water (or even an ocean), there are leeches. That means that even right here in the United States, you can have a leech latch onto you and begin sucking your blood. Of course, the lucky thing here is that they drop off after they've had their fill, and most bites are not harmful.

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