19 thoughts on “Micro knowledge (in wildly irresponsible generalizations):”
Somewhere in there you need to put: Eat bear jerky. Apparently there was a big outbreak of Cysticercosis among some people in Minnesota or something who ate some insufficiently jerkified bear.
It must have been trichinella… you get cysticercosis from Taneia solium (pork tapeworm).
You could also add:
No more cuteneess: avoid puppies (Toxocara) and bunny rabbits (Tularemia)
Don’t even think about doing adventure races. (Leptospirosis)
Forget about unpasteurized sheep’s cheese (Brucellosis)
I think fasciola sounds like some sort of yummy desert.
Haha, every lecture we’ve had that’s mentioned kids has driven people away from the idea. (Lots of pregnancy-related problems, terrifying diseases.. I think we should have an entire lecture filled with cute pictures of babies just to balance things out.)
Awesome. I think the children’s book is a good idea!!
My (Canadian ed.) addition would be:
Eat fermented walrus meat (there was a guy in Tuktoyaktuk who died of botulism from that).
Turns out the traditional way of preparing it was to bury it in the ground with stones/wood (thus aerobic). But in the advent of technology they buried it in plastic (anerobic).
It was my culturally sensitive way to refuse eating it. 🙂
Don’t go to the Ohio River Valley and get Histoplasma, or to Arizona and get Coccidioides, or own birds and get allergic alveolitis.
And yes, absolutely, children ARE parasites. That’s why there’s such a thing as gestational diabetes – the concentration gradient of glucose is good for baby to get the sugar.
Haha, yeah. And I realize now that I also left out swimming pools, water parks, cruise ships, and ever even considering traveling to 3rd world countries.
Wow, humans get Fasciola hepatica, too? Never knew that!
Also, very nice drawing of an Old English Sheepdog! You probably already know this, but to keep the poor sheepdog from getting a bad rep, any dog (and even other predators like cats) that eat sheep (or the other less common intermediate hosts like rodents, lagomorphs, etc.) can get Echinococcus and shed the infectious tapeworm segments. Bad news bears!
Also as an interesting (and probably unrelated) factoid, out west at least, lambs are a tasty little treat for all kinds of wild things–coyotes, mountain lions, dogs, and even eagles and wild pigs! You can often tell what was snacking on your lambs, though, by the where the damage was done to the carcass/which parts were eaten. Weird, eh? [/random tangent]
Haha, poor sheepdog. Yep, that’s what the “wildly irresponsible generalization” was referring to – “dogs who hang out with sheep” would’ve been more appropriate.
Action Potential 
Somewhere in there you need to put: Eat bear jerky. Apparently there was a big outbreak of Cysticercosis among some people in Minnesota or something who ate some insufficiently jerkified bear.
Ooh! And trichinella.
Eating bears is a bad plan.
Hm maybe it WAS trich. Can’t remember anymore.
It must have been trichinella… you get cysticercosis from Taneia solium (pork tapeworm).
You could also add:
No more cuteneess: avoid puppies (Toxocara) and bunny rabbits (Tularemia)
Don’t even think about doing adventure races. (Leptospirosis)
Forget about unpasteurized sheep’s cheese (Brucellosis)
I think fasciola sounds like some sort of yummy desert.
Ok miss know-it-all.
Shit. I’ve prepared more food using watercress than I can remember.
According to my lecture notes, you’re good as long as the watercress isn’t grown in a “sheep-raising area”.
… which seems a little vague, now that I think about it..
I haven’t eaten watercress since my grandfather got fascioliasis. But I’m not planning on not having kids because of parasites 😛
Haha, every lecture we’ve had that’s mentioned kids has driven people away from the idea. (Lots of pregnancy-related problems, terrifying diseases.. I think we should have an entire lecture filled with cute pictures of babies just to balance things out.)
Awesome. I think the children’s book is a good idea!!
My (Canadian ed.) addition would be:
Eat fermented walrus meat (there was a guy in Tuktoyaktuk who died of botulism from that).
Turns out the traditional way of preparing it was to bury it in the ground with stones/wood (thus aerobic). But in the advent of technology they buried it in plastic (anerobic).
It was my culturally sensitive way to refuse eating it. 🙂
Oh my gosh. “Fermented walrus meat”. Got it!
Eat squirrel brains (outbreak of Jakob-Creutzfeld disease in rural Kentucky).
Also, children themselves ARE parasites.
… hmm, my roommate’s family, back in college, had eaten squirrel brains before. They were an adventurous group…
I think being adventurous is, according to microbiology, generally frowned upon. It’s just bad news.
Don’t go to the Ohio River Valley and get Histoplasma, or to Arizona and get Coccidioides, or own birds and get allergic alveolitis.
And yes, absolutely, children ARE parasites. That’s why there’s such a thing as gestational diabetes – the concentration gradient of glucose is good for baby to get the sugar.
Poor babies!
Don’t go anywhere, basically. Do not travel.
It really is a burden of knowledge, huh?
Haha, yeah. And I realize now that I also left out swimming pools, water parks, cruise ships, and ever even considering traveling to 3rd world countries.
Wow, humans get Fasciola hepatica, too? Never knew that!
Also, very nice drawing of an Old English Sheepdog! You probably already know this, but to keep the poor sheepdog from getting a bad rep, any dog (and even other predators like cats) that eat sheep (or the other less common intermediate hosts like rodents, lagomorphs, etc.) can get Echinococcus and shed the infectious tapeworm segments. Bad news bears!
Also as an interesting (and probably unrelated) factoid, out west at least, lambs are a tasty little treat for all kinds of wild things–coyotes, mountain lions, dogs, and even eagles and wild pigs! You can often tell what was snacking on your lambs, though, by the where the damage was done to the carcass/which parts were eaten. Weird, eh? [/random tangent]
Haha, poor sheepdog. Yep, that’s what the “wildly irresponsible generalization” was referring to – “dogs who hang out with sheep” would’ve been more appropriate.
Did not know that about lambs! Cool stuff!