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[at-l] Raccoon parasite can affect humans (from news article at Yahoo web site)

As if  ticks (lyme disease), mice (hatta virus),  rabid skunks (etc.),
water-born:protozoans, bacteria, & viruses, not to mention  mosquitos,
no-see-ums, and black flies were not enough to worry about, consider the
following article.
---terry---

Friday May 22 4:28 PM EDT 

Raccoon parasite can affect humans

ATLANTA (Reuters) -- Raccoons may carry intestinal parasites that can be
dangerous to humans -- especially children, according to California
researchers. 

The larvae of the roundworm Baylisascaris procyonis survives in the
raccoon's
feces and can be ingested when passed from hand to mouth. Children can
come
into contact with the worm when playing in raccoon "latrines," communal
defecation
areas established by the animals. 

B. procyonis eggs in the soil can remain infective for years, reported
researchers from San Jose State University and Stanford University in
California, at the 98th general meeting of the American Society of
Microbiology here. 

Dr. Darcy Levee of Stanford believes that while health officials are
aware of
the risk of rabies with raccoons, most are unaware of the prevalence of
B.
procyonis. Levee and colleagues found the parasite in about 60% of the 26
animals tested.
The parasite is more common in raccoons that live in the Northeast,
Midwest and
Pacific Northwest, and less common in raccoons in the Southeast. 

Levee notes that infection with the parasite can be life-threatening in
humans,
especially in children. After eggs hatch in the intestine, the larvae
aggressively invade surrounding tissue, a condition known as visceral
larval migrans (VLM). VLM can
be caused by several types of worms, but for unknown reasons, the B.
procyonis larvae cause a "particularly severe form of VLM," say the
researchers, and may invade the brain and spinal cord, causing
meningitis.
Although human infection is relatively rare, VLM caused by the worm's
larvae has killed four
people in the US -- at least two of them children -- in recent years. 
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/top_stories/story.

"The very small number of reported B. procyonis infections of humans
despite
the large number of raccoons living in close association with humans
suggests
that the risk of such serious infection is remote," write the researchers
in a
preliminary report. "Nevertheless, accurate information regarding the
percentage of the raccoons positive for B. procyonis as well as other
selected parasites transmissible to
humans will greatly aid health officials in informing the public about
the
actual risk of infection." 

The researchers advise parents of young children and people whose
occupation
puts them in contact with soil to be aware of the potential danger the
worm
represents. They warn that there can be a high concentration of parasite
eggs
in the soil in areas used by raccoons as latrines -- areas such as near
fallen
timber, around stored firewood, near patio decks, and in attics and
garages. 

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