Identifying the earthworm material recently collected from different parts of Bulgaria (Rila Mountain, Danube plain, Thracian Lowland and Sub-Balkan valleys) resulted in twelve records of lumbricids, including two earthworm species discovered for the first time in the country. The occurrence of Cernosvitovia munteniana Zicsi & Pop, 1991 in Bulgaria and also on the territory of the Balkan Penins...

Dracunculiasis is a disabling, and economically crippling parasitic infestation transmitted by drinking contaminated water. Although the disease has been eradicated from most parts of the world, it is still endemic in some tropical African countries. Here we report a 65-year-old female from the southern region of Saudi Arabia with radiological evidence of heavy load of guinea worms. This case c...

Background Co-ingesting creatine (5 g) with large amounts of glucose (e.g., 95 g) has been shown to enhance creatine and carbohydrate storage in muscle. It has been speculated that creatine transport is mediated in part by glucose and insulin. The increases in creatine retention are accompanied by an undesired caloric load and as a result, additional research has been undertaken to assess the e...

Dracunculiasis (Guinea worm disease) is caused by Dracunculus medinensis, a parasitic worm. Approximately 1 year after a person acquires infection from contaminated drinking water, the worm emerges through the skin, usually on the lower limb. Pain and secondary bacterial infection can cause temporary or permanent disability that disrupts work and schooling. The campaign to eradicate dracunculia...

Worm lizards (Amphisbaenia) are burrowing squamates that live as subterranean predators. Their underground existence should limit dispersal, yet they are widespread throughout the Americas, Europe and Africa. This pattern was traditionally explained by continental drift, but molecular clocks suggest a Cenozoic diversification, long after the break-up of Pangaea, implying dispersal. Here, we des...

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Syphacia muris worm burdens were evaluated in the rat Rattus norvegicus of the strains Wistar (outbred), Low/M and AM/2/Torr (inbred), maintained conventionally in institutional animal houses in Brazil. Morphometrics and illustration data for S. muris recovered from Brazilian laboratory rats are provided for the first time since its proposition in 1935.

The long time needed for global eradication of dracunculiasis (Guinea worm disease) was not anticipated at the outset. The successful eradication of smallpox in 10 years compares with the target date set in 1985 for dracunculiasis eradication - 1995. Seventeen years after that date, transmission continues. Why? Various factors are responsible, mainly lack of resources, or resources ineffectivel...