ARS TECHNICA – If you were looking for a reason to keep a flamethrower around the house, you may have just found one.
This week, the Los Angeles County health department reported that two people were infected with a raccoon parasite that causes severe, frequently fatal, infections of the eyes, organs, and central nervous system.
Those who survive are often left with severe neurological outcomes, including blindness, paralysis, loss of coordination, seizures, cognitive impairments, and brain atrophy.
The parasitic roundworm behind the infection, called Baylisascaris procyonis, spreads via eggs in raccoons feces.
Adult worms live in the intestines of the masked trash scavengers, and each female worm can produce nearly 200,000 eggs per day.
“An 18-month-old boy died from the infection after he chewed and sucked on pieces of contaminated firewood bark.”
Once in the environment, those eggs can remain infectious for years. They can survive drying out as well as most chemical treatments and disinfectants, including bleach.
Humans get infected if they inadvertently eat soil or other material that has become contaminated with egg-laden feces.
Though infections are rare—there were 29 documented cases between 1973 and 2015—younger children and people with developmental disabilities are most at risk.
For instance, an 18-month-old boy with Downs syndrome in Illinois died from the infection after he chewed and sucked on pieces of contaminated firewood bark.
An autopsy later found three worm larvae per gram of his brain tissue, with a total estimated burden of 3,027 parasitic larvae, according to a 2016 report.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one of the best prevention methods for raccoon roundworms is to kill it with fire.
While chemicals stand little chance of killing off infectious eggs, extreme heat destroys them instantly …
