{"id":352575,"date":"2025-12-23T15:49:56","date_gmt":"2025-12-23T10:19:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=352575"},"modified":"2025-12-23T15:49:56","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T10:19:56","slug":"raccoon-roundworm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/raccoon-roundworm\/","title":{"rendered":"Raccoon Roundworm"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>News: <\/strong>Europe is on alert after a new study revealed the raccoon roundworm\u00a0has firmly taken hold in wild raccoons across nine countries, with Germany at the epicentre.<\/p>\n<h2>About Raccoon Roundworm<\/h2>\n<figure style=\"width: 284px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cwhl.vet.cornell.edu\/system\/files\/media\/PHIL_3381_lores.jpg?resize=284%2C372&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"raccoon roundworm\" width=\"284\" height=\"372\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: cwhl<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>It <\/strong>is a <strong>parasitic worm found in raccoon intestinal tract.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Scientific name:<\/strong>Baylisascaris procyconis, (family Ascarididae)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Affected Region:<\/strong> It <strong>affects raccoon populations in parts of North America, Europe, and Japan<\/strong>, with occasional occurrences reported in South America.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Species<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Baylisascaris procyonis<\/strong> is the species most<strong> commonly associated with human infection<\/strong> and is found in raccoons.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Baylisascaris columnaris<\/strong> is found in skunks and <strong>is less commonly associated with human disease.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Baylisascaris procyonis<\/strong> poses the<strong> greatest risk to humans<\/strong> due to frequent contact between raccoons and human environments.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Life Cycle:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li data-start=\"143\" data-end=\"206\"><strong>Infected raccoons shed millions of eggs daily in their feces.<\/strong> Under warm and moist conditions, the eggs become infectious within 11\u201314 days.<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"292\" data-end=\"433\">Raccoons, <strong>especially young ones, <\/strong>become infected by accidentally swallowing eggs from contaminated soil, vegetation, or their mother\u2019s fur.<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"437\" data-end=\"504\">Intermediate<strong> hosts become infected by ingesting embryonated eggs<\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li data-start=\"437\" data-end=\"504\">The larvae hatch, migrate through organs such as the liver and lungs, and settle in body tissues.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"609\" data-end=\"725\"><strong>When a raccoon eats an infected intermediate host,<\/strong> the larvae develop into adult worms in the raccoon\u2019s intestine.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"729\" data-end=\"784\"><strong>Transmission:<\/strong> The infection <strong>can affect humans and animals,<\/strong> including dogs.\n<ul>\n<li data-start=\"729\" data-end=\"784\">Humans become <strong>infected by ingesting embryonated eggs.<\/strong> The larvae <strong>hatch and migrate through body tissues,<\/strong> commonly reaching the eyes and brain, where they can cause severe disease.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Symptoms<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Infected individuals<strong> may experience nausea and general fatigue<\/strong>. The infection can cause enlargement of the liver.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Larval migration to the brain may result in loss of coordination and muscle control.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Eye involvement may lead to partial or complete blindness.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Severe infections can progress to coma.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Prevention<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Raccoon roundworm eggs <strong>become infectious two to four weeks after being passed in feces.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Prompt removal and proper disposal<\/strong> of raccoon feces can significantly reduce the risk of infection.<\/li>\n<li>S<strong>urfaces contaminated with raccoon feces<\/strong> should be treated with boiling water or a propane flame device using appropriate safety measures.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Wild animals, including raccoons,<\/strong> should not be kept, fed, or adopted as pets.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Washing hands<\/strong> after outdoor activities helps prevent Baylisascaris infection and other diseases.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>News: Europe is on alert after a new study revealed the raccoon roundworm\u00a0has firmly taken hold in wild raccoons across nine countries, with Germany at the epicentre. About Raccoon Roundworm It is a parasitic worm found in raccoon intestinal tract.\u00a0 Scientific name:Baylisascaris procyconis, (family Ascarididae) Affected Region: It affects raccoon populations in parts of North&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/raccoon-roundworm\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Raccoon Roundworm<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10366,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1566,1738,12039],"tags":[11872,11170],"class_list":["post-352575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-factly-articles","category-science-and-technology-daily-factly-articles","category-knolls","tag-9pm-daily-factly","tag-india-today","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10366"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=352575"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352575\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=352575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=352575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=352575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}