www.cdc.gov and then go to the parasitic division. 

This next one has brain worms.  Yay!

 

http://pr.caltech.edu/periodicals/EandS/ar...brainworms.html

 

Here's one more.  Tapeworms are so amazing!!

http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=12322

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ahhhhhhhhhh! now i really am disturbed. and i think im gunna be sick!

 

if we can catch it from the environment we live in, why arent himans wormed every few months like animals are?

 

it is extremely disturbing to think you might just have an undetectable alien living inside you and growing and slowly making you ill without you even knowing.

 

surely if people have died from worms they didnt know they had it would be better to be wormed on a regular basis!

interesting topic julie, here are my thoughts,

 

Of course in the wild budgies will be a lot more exposed to viruses and such like, but wild budgies that have descended from generation upon generation of wild budgie will have built up an immunity to certain bad germs and it will almost be a part of their genetics (as their parents were exposed to the same, and their parents and so on).

 

when we chose to take budgies from the wild and make them our own we protected them from such harm and breed generation upon generations of budgies this way. so all the pet budgies have descended from captive budgies that have not been exposed to many harmful viruses (through contaminated water and such). over the generations that have been bred the immunity of the birds has been diminished, the strength and capacity of the immune system getting weaker through every generation of captive bred budgies. it takes a very very long time for this to happen though.

 

therefore it can be very dangerous to expose captive bred budgies to illnesses and viruses to some which native budgies are used to and have the antibodies to fight.

 

there are actually very few viruses that can be transferred from human to bird and vice versa, and such cases are quite rare i believe. so effectively they are wrapped up in cotton wool when they are with us aviary birds can build up a better immune system than indoor birds as they are more exposed when they are young. those are just my thoughts on the subject and how i think it works.

 

would be great to hear some other theories about this...

 

I think pixie25 is right, but I put is simply down to: less genetic variety in domesticated budgies. Stupid artificial selection during breeding to end up with unnatural colours (white, blue etc). Furthermore, overbreeding from certain bloodlines. It's a bit like how some royal families used to be (no offence) - e.g. haemophilia

Grrr, it makes me mad how humans screw up all these other species' genomes (e.g. dogs).

 

And yep, captive birds are definitely sheltered from the outside a lot. So the immune system is not as used to coping with disease.

 

I wouldn't know about aviaries, but it sounds about right. Sometimes I wish my budgie and I could communicate in one language (i.e. not just him talking to me in Budgie, and me talking in English...) so I could ascertain his health. Hehe.

 

But we love our bigger, fatter, more colourful domesticated budgies...

Edited September 29, 200519 yr by Antt

Actually, we all have things living in us. We have bacteria in our intestines that help us digest certain things...

 

Something to think about while you are trying to get to sleep at night... hehehehe.

 

-R

I find the whole subject absolutely fascinating! I think it's absolutely wonderful the way all these organisms work together, and make a whole cycle of life!

Similar to when I was a young Mum (many years ago) we were taught to sterilize sterilize sterilize,now however the thinking is that a bit of exposure to germs etc. helps a child's immunity.

What do people think?

Julie

my parents always tell me off for bringing my kids up 'too clean' and that they will never be immune to bacteria etc, and that when we were kids we made mud pies (and ate them apparently, but then if you tasted mums cooking so would you (Laughing out loud)) and that we were nevre ill, so it gives you pause for thought, but i dont care i am a bit obsessive with my cleaning but i hate to see mucky kids (little ones that is)

love Dawn

Yeah, go our own "good" bacteria. Get rid of them, and the disease-causing ones move in. e.g. thrush

 

Hmm, I've always lived in a flat, so I don't think I ever ate dirt/mud. But I'm pretty healthy.

 

Yes, this topic is dead interesting - I study Bio at school . But I think we're going off topic a bit....

 

But while we're here, does anyone want to hear about these freaky yet fascinating exhibits I saw at a pathology museum?

I do Antt! I love this kind of stuff!