Medina/Guinea worm

Another unpleasant symptom you have a nematode worm to thank would be dracunculiasis caused specifically by the Dracunculus medinensis worm. Caught mainly by drinking or urinating directly into water infected with the worm larvae, which then hatch inside of the host’s body, and – post-mating – the male is absorbed, leaving the female to delve deeper into the host and take up residence alongside any long bones or joints, which is why any great pictures or videos you find are generally of the worm being removed from similar places. The worm itself is just under a meter in length and – without removal – will emerge from the host by creating a very painful blister which then ruptures, so as to allow the female to release all the eggs that it has been carrying all this time, ideally when it comes into contact with more delicious water. The good news is that the problem of this worm infection is one that can be eradicated (the first disease to be eradicated merely by a change in behavior, in this case the drinking habits of those under threat from the disease), and work is well underway to ensure that the future is a place without people pulling spaghetti from their legs and feet.