Friday Parasite #52: Hooking Up

This is the human hookworm Ancylostoma duodenale,   an intestinal parasite that takes a long and roundabout journey to its final home. Most intestinal parasites get in through the front door, so to speak -- entering their hosts through contaminated food or water. Hookworms are different. They get in through your feet.

Hookworm larvae are found in soil that has been in contact with contaminated fecal matter. When the larvae find the warm bare skin of a new host, they burrow in and wend their way through its body. But they still don't head for the intestines -- they use the circulatory system as a highway to the host's lungs.
to the lungs. Once they're inside the lungs, they crawl up the trachea toward the mouth, where they can get swallowed and finally reach their warm, dark, intestinal home.

Comments

[Denice Montaño]

Wow, a complicated but effective way of reaching its objective

[Denice Montaño]

Wow, a complicated but effective way of reaching its objective