from Hacker News

Tapeworm in fox poop that will slowly destroy your organs is on the rise

by Bender on 4/24/25, 12:59 AM with 13 comments

• by eth0up on 4/24/25, 3:08 AM

  We'll be seeing increase in other parasites too. Strongyloides (angiostrongylus) is spreading and pretty well embedded in the food chain, with cuban tree frogs and snails as a primary carrier. Baylisascaris tends to stay with racoons, but squirrels and other critters get it too, as well as any predators that eat them. Both are every bit as bad as the fox tapeworms. Strongyloides may be functionally the worst though, because contamination of crops is much easier or probable.

  All are very difficult to treat, sometimes impossible

• by anenefan on 4/24/25, 3:20 AM

  Nasty and the cure seems more like surgical and chemical follow up. [1] [2]

  Being a tapeworm I would have thought ivermectin or one of the newer mectins to be very effective on its own. Apparently that's not the case [3]

  [1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39606163/

  [2] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5055586/

  [3] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5931691/

• by bakedoatmeal on 4/24/25, 3:19 AM

  Recently heard a physician who essentially manages every case of this disease in Alberta give a really fascinating talk. The hepatic cysts these worms produce are very difficult to distinguish from cancer on imaging and the infection itself is staged using a PNM system not too dissimilar from cancer's TNM staging.

• by vunderba on 4/24/25, 4:46 AM

  Sometimes the cuter the animal - the worse it seems to get. If you're in the mood for a little body horror light reading - check out baylisascaris (aka raccoon roundworm).

  The official recommendation by the CDC is exercising safe hygiene protocols, oh and also a "propane flame gun".

  https://www.cdc.gov/baylisascaris/about/index.html

• by labrador on 4/24/25, 1:28 AM

  Are a lot of people around foxes?