Roundworms infect hundreds of millions of people globally, according to the Cleveland Clinic, but the researchers in Australia said this was the first report of the Ophidascaris worm species infecting a human. The woman may have been infected by the worm the same way small animals typically are: by accidentally consuming worm eggs. Carpet pythons were at a lake area near where the woman lived, the article said. She had no direct contact with the snakes but often gathered warrigal greens, which are similar to spinach, from around the lake to cook. The article said that she could have inadvertently consumed worm eggs by eating the greens or because her hands or her kitchen were contaminated by them.

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Persons: Scott Gardner, ” Dr, Gardner, we’re immunocompromised, ” Organizations: Cleveland Clinic, Manter, Parasitology, University of Nebraska Locations: Australia, Lincoln