Parasites catchable in the UK

[EdS]

Scabies
bed bugs - Britain is suffering from a dramatic rise in bed bugs.


I could ask my colleauge - the pest control manager, for a list of common UK parasites.

 

[w00dsmoke]

That would be great but let's try and keep focussed on what you may catch when outdoors when you are out doing bushy stuff in the UK. I can't imagine a scenario anywhere in the Uk where I'll catch bed bugs when out camping

What I am surprised at is how little we all know of the risks out there. Some of these things can seriously damage your health!

 

[Nonsuch]

Liver flukes look nasty - what's the story with them ?

 

[jimford]

IIRC some years ago there was a camper in the U.S. that caught yersinia pestis (plague) when camping near a rat that had fleas that carried it!

JIm

 

[w00dsmoke]

Liver flukes look nasty - what's the story with them ?

http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/40000489/

 

[Grooveski]

Helicobacter Pylori.
Bleeding gut, drips and a biopsy.
Great fun.

 

[MountainGhost]

Weils disease or leptrospirosis is a bacteria that can survive on surface of river banks etc. You would be at risk by ingesting water contaminated by Rat urine (Brown rat) or contaminating cuts/grazes with such water..

Symptoms :

Prolonged headache & flu like fever.

The bacteria can not survive when dry!!

John

Came down with this in January after returning from Asia.

Started with a fever, leg aches and numbness, eye and skull pressure. Fever passed after 4-5 days so I went for emergency dental treatment the next morning. Two wisdom teeth removed and an hour later I was at the GP surgery for blood tests. Within 24 hours I had a call from the GP asking me to pack a bag and present myself at the hospital, but they still wouldn't say exactly what it was. I had chest x-rays and MRI and further blood tests. The fever had come back and I felt worse. But my lungs and CNS/brain were clear and they sent me home with a penicillin based anti-biotic.

The doctor said leptospirosis is usually dealt with by the body but there are 13 known strains some of which are more harmful than others.

After years travelling in Asia I sometimes carry a broad spectrum anti-biotic in my FAK. It's not something I will neglect to carry with me in the future ever again if I can help it.

 

[oldtimer]

Parasite I've had most trouble with is my brother-in-law.

 

[forrestdweller]

how big would be the risk of trichinosis?!

 

[santaman2000]

how big would be the risk of trichinosis?!

None at all if the meat is fully cooked.

 

[Janne]

Not a parasite, but you can catch Foot and mouth virus.

 

[bearbait]

None at all if the meat is fully coked.

Ah! Ha!

So the critter died of excessive self-medication?

 

[bearbait]

Woops! Double post due to technical issues.

 

[andybysea]

Ticks are my main concern and not for me but my kids, there are constantly Roe deer in my back garden and in the little wooded area behind it, sometimes upto six at a time,and as the kids are constantly playing in this area (they have a tarp up and a rope swing).

 

[forrestdweller]

None at all if the meat is fully coked.

that's what I heard,too but there quite a few myths out there- just wanted to make sure......
is there a way to find out if the animal is infected without having "" fancy"" equipment available?!

 

[Janne]

Ungortunately, no.
The lowest tech diagnostic method involves a microscope, but you can only diagnose the cases with an established infection, where the larvae are incapsulated in the muscles.

Proper cooking will kill them iff, so no Medium Rare wild boar steaks or hamburgers!

As a side note, after the Swedish North Pole expedition in 1897, trying to reach the Pole with a Hydrogen baloon, failed, all three members died on the island Kvitøys from Trichinosis.

 

[santaman2000]

Ah! Ha!

So the critter died of excessive self-medication?

LOL. Sorry about that. I'll be correcting the spelling now.

 

[santaman2000]

that's what I heard,too but there quite a few myths out there- just wanted to make sure......
is there a way to find out if the animal is infected without having "" fancy"" equipment available?!

Ungortunately, no.
The lowest tech diagnostic method involves a microscope, but you can only diagnose the cases with an established infection, where the larvae are incapsulated in the muscles.

Proper cooking will kill them iff, so no Medium Rare wild boar steaks or hamburgers!

As a side note, after the Swedish North Pole expedition in 1897, trying to reach the Pole with a Hydrogen baloon, failed, all three members died on the island Kvitøys from Trichinosis.

+1 to Janne's answer.

 

[forrestdweller]

Ungortunately, no.
The lowest tech diagnostic method involves a microscope, but you can only diagnose the cases with an established infection, where the larvae are incapsulated in the muscles.

Proper cooking will kill them iff, so no Medium Rare wild boar steaks or hamburgers!

As a side note, after the Swedish North Pole expedition in 1897, trying to reach the Pole with a Hydrogen baloon, failed, all three members died on the island Kvitøys from Trichinosis.

well.... I'm not lugging a microscope around with me
I remember a documentary about the 1897 expedition and their cause of death:eating raw meat of infected polar bears......
the reason why I ask specifically about trichinosis: I'm currently in Korea and the conditions pigs are kept in private are ......eerrhhhmmmm.....let's call it low hygienic standard.... ( not interested in catching any "souvenirs" so I make sure my pork is well​ done)

 

[Janne]

Korea, must be interesting!

Yes, properly cooked through food is a must in some countries.

Pork is notorious for having diseases and parasites, something that was discovered thousands of years ago. Hence the Jewish ( and later Islamic) ban of this meat.
Animals that are omnivorous or carnivorous tend to have more, for us dangerous, parasites. Again, the Middle Eastern people discovered this the hard way ages ago.

My dad told me that when he was a youngster ( pre WW2), he used to help on his grandparents estate with the slaugter and with testing the slaughtered animals for TB and other diseases.
I recall he told me the Vet had a kit to test for some diseases, but when he tested each pig carcass he took a slice sample from the neck and it got tested straight away using slides and a strong magnifying glass.
These were animals that were slaughtered for consumtion by the people there, not for resale to butchers.

I still remember when he told me this, it was when we visited the Andree museum in Gränna in Sweden in the very early -70'.
He told me that Andree must have been a total idiot, as the whole trip was doomed to fail, and that Andree and his young two friends knew very well the danger of eating semi cooked bear meat. Plenty of firewood there on the beaches.