Live Worm Found In Australian Woman’s Brain

Published

2 years ago

August 29, 2023

Scientists, for the first time in the world, discovered a live worm in the brain of an Australian woman, according to BBC.

According to the report, the scientists said the “string-like structure” 8cm (3in) worm was pulled from the patient’s damaged frontal lobe during surgery in Canberra last year.

“It was definitely not what we were expecting. Everyone was shocked,” said operating surgeon Dr Hari Priya Bandi.

The 64-year-old woman had for months suffered symptoms like stomach pain, a cough, and night sweats, which advanced into forgetfulness and depression.

She was admitted to the hospital in late January 2021, and a scan later revealed “an atypical lesion within the right frontal lobe of the brain”.

However, the cause of her condition was only revealed by Dr Bandi’s knife during a biopsy in June 2022.

The doctors told BBC that the red parasite found in the woman’s brain could have been there for up to two months.

The report added that the woman, who lived near a lake area in south-eastern New South Wales state, is recovering well.

Her case is believed to be the first instance of a larvae invasion and development in the human brain, researchers said in the Emerging Infectious Diseases journal which reported the case.

The neurosurgeon who found the worm said she had only started to touch the brain part that had shown up strangely in the scans when she felt the worm.

“I thought, gosh, that feels funny, you couldn’t see anything more abnormal,” said Dr Bandi.

“And then I was able to really feel something, and I took my tweezers and I pulled it out and I thought, ‘Gosh! What is that? It’s moving!”

“Everyone was shocked. And the worm that we found was happily moving, quite vigorously, outside the brain,” she said.

UK Links Nigeria, Others To Poisonous Alcoholic Drinks

Published

5 hours ago

October 22, 2025

Editor

Nigeria and seven other countries have been added to a UK Foreign Office list warning of the risks of methanol poisoning from counterfeit or tainted alcoholic drinks.

Other affected countries that have warned of potential risks include Ecuador, Japan, Mexico, Peru, Russia, Uganda, and Kenya.

The countries are included in the updated travel guidance following incidents involving Britons in those countries.

The advice previously covered Thailand, Laos and Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Turkey, Costa Rica and Fiji and followed a number of high-profile incidents, including the death of six tourists in Laos last year.

The UK foreign Office warned travellers to watch out for signs of methanol poisoning such as blurry vision and confusion, which could lead to serious illness and death.

Methanol is an industrial chemical found in antifreeze and windscreen washer fluid. It is not meant for human consumption and is highly toxic.

With instances of unscrupulous backyard brewers adding methanol to drinks to extend their reach, and some bars and street vendors mixing it with spirit-based drinks and cocktails to cut costs, the Foreign Office has said it is crucial to be cautious.

The Foreign Office advised British nationals going abroad to purchase sealed drinks from licensed establishments, avoid homemade alcohol and pre-mixed spirits, cocktails and drinks served in buckets or jugs.

Travellers are advised to watch out for warning signs of poisoning, which include nausea, vomiting, dizziness and confusion.

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Mosquitoes Discovered In Iceland For First Time

Published

16 hours ago

October 21, 2025

Editor

Mosquitoes have been discovered in Iceland in a first for the island nation, which has long been one of the world’s mosquito-free places, a researcher told AFP Monday.

Three Culiseta annulata mosquitoes, two females and one male, were sighted around 30 kilometres (20 miles) north of the capital Reykjavik, according to Matthias Alfredsson, an entomologist at the Natural Science Institute of Iceland.

“They were all collected from wine ropes… aimed at attracting moths,” the researcher said in an email, referring to a method of adding sugar to heated wine and dipping ropes or strips of fabric into the solution, which are then hung outside to entice the sweet-toothed insects.

Along with Antarctica, Iceland has long been one of the few places on earth without a mosquito population.

“It is the first record of mosquitoes occurring in the natural environment in Iceland. A single Aedes nigripes specimen (arctic mosquito species) was collected many years ago from an airplane at Keflavik airport,” Alfredsson said, adding that “unfortunately, that specimen is lost”.

Their presence could “indicate a recent introduction to the country, possibly via ships or containers”, he said, but further monitoring in spring would be necessary to determine their further spread.

Rising temperatures, longer summers, and milder winters, all brought on by climate change, create a more favourable environment for mosquitoes to thrive.

But Alfredsson did not believe that a warmer climate explained the discovery.

The species “appears to be well adapted to colder climates”, which “allows them to withstand long, harsh winters when temperatures drop below freezing”, he said.

He added that its “diverse breeding habitats… further enhances its ability to persist in Iceland’s challenging environment”.
AFP

Headline

Trump Urged Ukraine To Give Up Land In Peace Deal Talks — Official

Published

17 hours ago

October 21, 2025

Editor

United State President Donald Trump pressured Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky to give up the eastern Donbas region in exchange for peace during “tense” talks last Friday in Washington, a senior Ukrainian official told AFP.

The source added that the talks with Trump were “not easy”, and that diplomatic efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war felt like they were being “dragged out” and “going in circles”.

Zelensky met Trump at the White House last week, hoping to capitalise on the US leader’s growing frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s reluctance to accept a ceasefire.

But he instead left empty-handed after Trump — who spoke with Putin the day before — denied his request for long-range Tomahawk missiles and pressured him into making a deal.

When asked if Trump urged Zelensky to pull out of land Ukraine still controlled — one of Putin’s key demands — the Ukrainian official told AFP: “Yes, that’s true.”

Following his meeting with Zelensky, Trump said on social media that their talks were “very interesting and cordial, but I told him, as I likewise strongly suggested to President Putin, that it is time to stop the killing and make a DEAL!”

Trump promised to end Russia’s three-and-a-half-year invasion within “24 hours” of his inauguration in January, but has failed to extract any concessions from Putin.

His position on the war has repeatedly shifted following his conversations with both Putin and Zelensky.

AFP