Most Disgusting Parasites

Deposited as larvae from human feces into the dirt, this bugger can find its’s way into the human body through dirty infected food and can reside in the large intestine when fully grown. Female worms can lay up to 2,000-12,000 eggs a single day, one of the fastest proliferating parasites found on planet Earth.

Otherwise known as whipworms this parasite can cause swelling and infection, and in extreme cases cause the human anus to flip itself inside out and bulge out of the human body.

Wuchereria bancrofti kicks off our list of Top Ten Disgusting Parasites of the World, a parasitic filarial nematode spread by a mosquito. Elephantiasis can result if the infected person does not receive proper treatment. Eephantiasis causes thickening of the skin across the legs and male genitalia.

This parasite is most prevalent in tropical and subtropical countries, although the threat of mosquitos is truly everywhere. Main symptoms include fever, lymphatic, skin thickening and swelling.

This disgusting parasite is called the hookworm and it lodges itself in the small intestine of the host, usually a cat or dog but when infecting a human the situation is dire and disgusting. This parasite can enter the human body through unclean water or fruit and vegetables, from the feces of a previously infected host.

According to the CDC, more than 100 million people in the world have caught hookworm infection at one point, and in China and Russia this parasite poses one of the most dangerous and common threats to human health.

Main symptoms include overall weakness, abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea and anemia.

Scabiei is a parasitic creature that can dig and burrow under the human skin and cause the disease scabies. Contracted through skin contact these parasites thrive in dirty, unclean areas where infection can spread.

Splothes of scratchy, itchy rashes can occur or breakout in the infected person, and further complications can occur when the impregnated female tunnels into the stratum corneum of the skin and deposits her eggs in the burrow. Main symptoms include itchy skin, pain and pus, which can lead to infection and possible amputation in extreme cases.

Pinworms are some of the most disgusting parasites on the face of the earth, and they are also called threadworms or seat worms. This intestinal parasite is very commonly found in humans, and especially children.

The worms lay eggs around the anal cavity and can cause pruritus ani, otherwise known as itchy butt syndrome. It’s not all laughs and games however, because people infected with the parasite will experience irritability, insomnia, loss of appetite and bruxism.

This infection in children can affect their physical and mental health if left untreated.

One of the most common parasitic worms found in the human body, this worm belongs to the phylum Nematoda. Approximately a sixth of the human population is estimated to be infected by Ascaris lumbricoides or another roundworm, which is a stunning number when you really think about it.

These sci-fi movie look alikes grow from 15 to 35 centimeters and is mainly spread through feces exposed food and unclean water. Many of the main symptoms include fever, allergies, vomiting, diarrhea, neurological problems, difficulties breathing and coughing.

Tapeworm is also known as cestode and has over 5000 different variations of itself in the world, living in the digestive tract of adults or in the body of animals. Tapeworm infection can lead to cestodiasis which is a disgusting infection of cestodes, a flat worm looking bug that are intestinal parasites in humans that lay eggs in body tissue.

The main disease symptoms include nausea, vomiting, visceral inflammation, diarrhea, weight loss, dizziness, convulsions and malnutrition.

This cute little bugger is the Schistosome, also known as blood flukes and is not only disgusting but horrifying on so many levels. This parasite is a platyhelminth that lives in the veins of its hosts and can cause the disease schistosomiasis.

This parasite is transmitted through infected water, and it finds a new host when the parasite punctures the human skin and burrows into it. Symptoms vary from inflammation and painful cramps, causing serious damage to internal organ especially the liver.

This parasite is considered the second most socioeconomically devastating parasitic disease by the World Health Organization, only after malaria, with hundreds of millions infected worldwide.

Loa Loa is a specific kind of roundworm species that is also known as the eye worm, and is typically found in the geographic regions such as Africa or India. This parasitc filarial nematodes cause subcutaneous filariasis in humans, and can be spotted in the eyes of it’s victims

Maturing larvae and adult Loa Loa live in the subcutaneous layer of the skin in humans and can cause blindness in humans.

The most disgusting parasite found on planet Earth is without a doubt the bot fly, a part of the Oestridae family and they lay their larvae in both living and dead flesh. The specific fly we are talking about happens to be called the Dermatobia hominis, the only species of bot fly known to infect humans.

The larvae then proceed to eat the away under the skin of the infected person, and can cause extreme pain. Removal of the parasite can vary in methods, from surgery, to topical creams and even sealing the breathing hole of the larva with nail polish or vaseline and then removed.

I’m sure you agree that these parasites are truly some of the most disgusting things on Planet Earth. Check out my other lists regarding health and diseases, and if you’re anything like me you regret having learned about these disgusting bugs.