Worm like snake like visitor to my sons paddling pool

[iancnx]

Overnight this strange looking worm found its way into my son's paddling pool (trees overhead?). 1mm diameter about 20cm long. Bracken greenish/ brown in colour. No teeth lol. Only the head end actively moving with some speed. Any ideas?

[wprime]

You have this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nematomorpha

[iancnx]

You have this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nematomorpha

Incredibly helpful, many thanks for replying.

[Crossy]

Hmmm, not something I'd want in my pool (of any size), I think we should move this to Swimming Pools for advice on prevention.

[cooked]

I would have preferred not to know that

[glegolo]

You must be mixing up the metric system american?,, that looks more like at least 50 cm in length...

Glegolo

[jaycor]

I would be dumping the water and use chlorine to sanitize. The last thing is these growing in unwanted places (i.e. child).

[peterb17]

There was another post about a British couple suing their travel company- they mentioned worm like creatures in the pool. Maybe the same thing.

Not nice in a pool, but would not imagine these are dangerous ?

[TheSwede99]

Check this out

[KevinB]

By the way do not panic - these nematodes don't infect humans they are very species specific - they mainly focus on big insects. They enter the insect as a small young "larva" and grow inside it until mature and then they bore out the insect and drop to the ground and die leaving behind their rotting body which contains hundred of thousand of eggs. Any interested insect that lands on the pile (the decomposing body releases odours that attract the insects) and it picks up a egg or larva and it then enters the body through a spiracle into the insects trachea - insects don't have lungs but small pipes which run from a hole in the sides to distribute oxygen to all their cells.

The version of these animals that attack humans are either ascaris "worms" and tapeworms and we get them entering our body from infected meat that is not properly cooked. And the escape from our body in our faeces - and then start their life cycle when a pig eats our waste product.

Basically your son could have eaten the thing in his pool without any ill effects (kids eat worms). I've see a big tree cricket in Chaing Mia infected with these "worms" and that is most probably where you specimen descended from - in a tree above the pool. It would have simple drowned if you left it in the water and would have not have released any of its eggs.

[DurianMan]

I've only been Chaing Mia for a three weeks now an just got diagnosed with ascaris lumbricoides. I couldn't stay away from the street meet! lol but actually I have changed my ways and stopped eating it since seeing the doctor. The docter put me on meds and we will see! I just started on the prescription today. Some of the pictures I have seen of ascariasis look horrific. The doc assures me that my ascariasis will cease in a few more days. Cannot bring myself to actually think there are still some living worms inside of my stomach.

[aarn]

Ascarid worms are reasonably common in kids, especially in poorer countries. Easy to treat, but if unmedicated can kill children.

Unusual for an adult to harbour them. Also, the incubation/development period would suggest that you didn't pick up your 'worm burden' during three weeks residence in CM.

Bottom line is, eat only well-cooked fish/chicken/meat (if you must eat meat). Also go easy on that fermented Isaan spicy fish sauce, raw for sure. AA