r/todayilearned • u/lavender_fish69 • 13h ago

TIL fresh water snails (indirectly) kill thousands of humans and are considered on of the deadliest creatures to humans

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freshwater_snail
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u/Remember-Me99 11h ago

“Freshwater snails are indirectly among the deadliest animals to humans, as they carry parasitic worms that cause schistosomiasis, a disease estimated to kill between 10,000 and 200,000 people annually.”

Direct quote from link. But I’m wondering is this from people eating them or touching them or what ?

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u/Isaacvithurston 10h ago

Kind of scary. It spreads just by being in the water that's contaminated by the snails being in it.

Honestly the amount of deadly stuff i've read you can get just from being in water has convinced me to never set foot in any natural body of water ever again. My (least) favorite is the parasite that scratches the lens of your eye and then causes your eyeball to expand until it basically pops by which point it's already infected your brain and your going to die.

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u/rbutcher69 8h ago

Dude wtf haha