UGLYANIMALS.BACKGROUND

one species: Wuchereria bancrofti (+ Brugia malayi, B. timori)

adults: long, cylindrical, slender with rounded ends – white – almost transparent

male: smaller (40 mm long – 100 micrometers wide) – curved tail: has 15 pairs of sensory organs

female: 60-100 mm long – 300 micrometers wide

reproduction: adults – coiled together: difficult to seperate

ovoviporous: (female produces eggs inside – like frogs): thousands of juveniles: microfilariae

need: 6-8 months to become adults

symptoms: fever, skin infections, growth of testes (heregolyók), lymph varices (nyirokcsomónövekedés), elephantiasis (vastagbőrűség)

200 million people affected – mostly tropics (Central Africa, Nile delta, North-South America, Southern China)

protection: insect repellents, mosquito netting

diagnosis: blood test

medical treatment: possible – but no vaccination

FILARIAL WORMS

fonalférgek

WUCHERERIA BANCROFTI

INTERESTING FACTS

• ancient Greeks, Romans: gave name: elephantiasis (similarity: enlarged limbs, cracked skin)
• silly name: ’disease caused by elephants’ – nothing to do with them
• theory: spread to Americas – via slave trade
• James Merrick - the Elephant Man - NOT THIS

Joseph Merrick

(1862-1890)

- born in Leicester

- age 2 – disfiguring tumours

- Victorian show person – medical wonder – ’freak’

- ’noble mind in horrible body’ – his hat 1 meter wide

- skeleton today: Royal London Hospital

- Why?

1. himself (autobiography): folk belief: pregnant mother frightened by elephants

2. Elephantiasis (100 years medical belief)

3. 1976 – neurofibriatosis: rare disorder – tumors grow on the nervous system (??? – no brown spots on skin usual with this)

4. 1996 – new x-ray + CT scans: Proteus-syndrome: rare hereditary disorder – multiple lesions of lymph nodes (extremely rare case – overgrowth of one side of the body, partial gigantism of feet, darkened spots on skin, abnormally large head: macrocephaly)

- many plays – films

- latest 1980: David Lynch: The Elephant Man

VICTIMS - TREATMENT

VIDEOS AND SOURCES

videos

http://www.animalplanet.com/tv-shows/monsters-inside-me/videos/parasite-causes-elephantiasis/

sources

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

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

http://womennewsnetwork.net/2012/10/03/haiti-women-takes-on-dreaded-disease-elephantiasis-one-mouth-at-a-time/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/haiti-takes-on-dreaded-disease-elephantiasis-one-mouth-at-a-time/2012/09/30/53c5e5b0-afef-11e1-80eb-46875d0c7789_story.html

http://rarediseases.about.com/cs/proteussyndrome/a/031301.htm

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

http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/broughttolife/people/josephmerrick.aspx

LIFE CYCLE

human parasitic roundworms:

2 hosts – complete life cycle

for larvae: 1. biting insect (mosquito, black fly)

for adults: 2. vertebrates: humans (using our life-cycle) – also domesticated animals: cattle, sheep, dogs

occupy: lymph nodes (nyirokcsomók) – in extremes: can lead to elephantiasis

• my 'favourite' would be: (Leucochloridium paradoxum – flatworm (laposféreg - galandférek))
• but remember: animals if they don’t breed, they feed.
• Humans in nature not special - only host animals

TASK DESCRIPTION + FIRST SOURCES

TASK DESCRIPTION

AIM: 2-8 MINUTE PRESENTATIONS

name (nicknames, Latin name)

physical description (size, weight, males – females, little ones)

habitat: where, what kind of environment

function in the food chain

endangered or not

habits: sexual, predators or not – interesting facts

popular culture: how humans see them, how you see them

pictures, painting, videos (2-3 minutes at most)

sources

SOURCES

There are many other sources, but these can help as starters:

http://uglyanimalsoc.com/

http://i100.independent.co.uk/article/the-animals-that-prove-mother-nature-is-truly-disgusting--gk2C8pqN1l

http://divaboo.info/

http://listverse.com/2008/06/22/top-10-most-disgusting-parasites/

http://www.viralnova.com/gross-edible-animals/

http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/photos/13-of-the-ugliest-animals-on-the-planet/the-ugly-stick-of-evolution