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Cake day: July 9th, 2024

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  • Ascaris Ascaris A laboratory technician holds a handful of parasitic Ascaris lumbricoides worms in Kenya.

    Ascaris, any of a genus of worms (order Ascaridida, class Secernentea) that are parasitic in the intestines of various terrestrial mammals, chiefly herbivores. They are typically large worms (up to about 40 cm long) characterized by a mouth surrounded by three lips. The species Ascaris lumbricoides is probably the most familiar parasite in humans. More than 25 percent of the world’s human population is infected with these worms, and about 20,000 people die of Ascaris infestation yearly. An almost identical worm, often called A. suum, occurs in pigs. It is, however, not certain that this species is distinct from the one that infests humans. See ascariasis.

    Ascariasis, infection of humans and other mammals caused by intestinal roundworms of the genus Ascaris. In humans, ascariasis typically is caused by A. lumbricoides; the large roundworm of pigs, A. suum, can also cause illness in humans. Although persons infected with Ascaris worms often are asymptomatic, heavy infestation can cause severe complications, particularly in children, who may experience malnutrition, growth stunting, or intestinal obstruction. Ascariasis exists worldwide, affecting an estimated 807 million to 1.2 billion persons. It is most common in children, especially those living in rural and impoverished communities.

    In humans, ascariasis involving A. lumbricoides develops following the ingestion of fertilized eggs that have contaminated foods or soil. In the small intestine the larvae are liberated and migrate through the intestinal wall, reaching the liver and then the lungs, where they may produce a host sensitization that results in lung inflammation and fluid retention. About 10 to 14 days later, the larvae pass through the alveolar walls in the airways of the lungs, migrate up the bronchi, and are swallowed. Returned to the small intestine, the larvae mature into egg-producing worms, which grow to some 15 to 35 cm (6 to 14 inches) in length. The adult worms can survive in the small intestine for 10 to 24 months. Males and females mate, resulting in the production of copious numbers of eggs—a single adult female can lay more than 200,000 eggs in one day. The eggs are excreted in human feces, beginning the infective cycle anew. Female worms can lay both fertilized and unfertilized eggs; only the former, once shed in human feces, are capable causing infection in humans.

    For some individuals, the first sign of ascariasis is the presence of a live worm in the feces. Cough, fever, and abdominal discomfort can also occur. Abdominal pain may be a sign of severe infection.

    The sanitary disposal of human excreta is the most-important preventive measure. Other means of prevention include hand-washing prior to handling food and thorough washing and cooking of raw vegetables. Treatment is by the use of anthelmintic drugs, including mebendazole and pyrantel pamoate. This article was most recently revised and updated by Kara Rogers.




  • Driver rams New Year’s revelers in New Orleans, killing 15; FBI doesn’t believe he acted alone By ERIC TUCKER, JIM MUSTIAN, KEVIN McGILL and JACK BROOK Updated 4:47 PM MST, January 1, 2025

    Live Updates: FBI investigating ‘act of terrorism’ in New Orleans on New Year’s Day.

    NEW ORLEANS (AP) — An Army veteran driving a pickup truck that bore the flag of the Islamic State group wrought carnage on New Orleans’ raucous New Year’s celebration, killing 15 people as he steered around a police blockade and slammed into revelers before being shot dead by police.

    The FBI said it is investigating the attack early Wednesday as a terrorist act and does not believe the driver acted alone. Investigators found guns and what appeared to be an improvised explosive device in the vehicle, along with other devices elsewhere in the city’s famed French Quarter.

    The rampage turned festive Bourbon Street into a macabre mayhem of maimed victims, bloodied bodies and pedestrians fleeing for safety inside nightclubs and restaurants. In addition to the dead, dozens of people were hurt. A college football playoff game at the nearby Superdome was postponed until Thursday.

    Zion Parsons, 18, of Gulfport, Mississippi, said he saw the truck “barreling through, throwing people like in a movie scene, throwing people into the air.”

    “Bodies, bodies all up and down the street, everybody screaming and hollering,” said Parsons, whose friend Nikyra Dedeaux was among the people killed.

    “This is not just an act of terrorism. This is evil,” New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said.

    The driver “defeated” safety measures in place to protect pedestrians, Kirkpatrick said, and was “hell-bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did.”

    The FBI identified the driver as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, a U.S. citizen from Texas, and said it is working to determine his potential associations with terrorist organizations.

    “We do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible,” FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Alethea Duncan said at a news conference. Image

    EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT - Security personnel investigate the scene on Bourbon Street after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans’ Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

    Investigators found multiple improvised explosives, including two pipe bombs that were concealed within coolers and wired for remote detonation, according to a Louisiana State Police intelligence bulletin obtained by The Associated Press. Image

    A black flag with white lettering lies on the ground rolled up behind a pickup truck that a man drove into a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing and injuring a number of people, early Wednesday morning, Jan. 1, 2025. The FBI said they recovered an Islamic State group flag, which is black with white lettering, from the vehicle. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

    The bulletin, relying on preliminary information gathered soon after the attack, also said surveillance footage showed three men and a woman placing one of the devices, but federal officials did not immediately confirm that detail and it wasn’t clear who they were or what connection they had to the attack, if any.

    Jabbar drove a rented pickup truck onto a sidewalk, going around a police car that was positioned to block vehicular traffic, authorities. A barrier system meant to prevent vehicle attacks was being repaired in preparation for the Super Bowl in February.

    Jabbar was killed by police after he exited the truck and opened fire on responding officers, Kirkpatrick said. Three officers returned fire. Two were shot and are in stable condition.

    Investigators recovered a handgun and AR-style rifle, according to a law enforcement official who was not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. Image A New Orleans police officer searches the area near a crime scene after a vehicle drove into a crowd on Canal and Bourbon Street earlier, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Jack Brook) Image A coroner’s van is parked on the corner of Bourbon St. and Canal St, after a vehicle raced into a crowd of revelers early on New Year’s Day, in New Orleans on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Jack Brook)

    Deadly explosions also rocked Honolulu and Las Vegas, though authorities haven’t said if they’re related to the New Orleans attack.

    A photo circulated among law enforcement officials showed a bearded Jabbar wearing camouflage next to the truck after he was killed. The intelligence bulletin obtained by the AP said he was wearing a ballistic vest and helmet. The flag of the Islamic State group was on the truck’s trailer hitch, the FBI said.

    “For those people who don’t believe in objective evil, all you have to do is look at what happened in our city early this morning,” U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican, said. “If this doesn’t trigger the gag reflex of every American, every fair-minded American, I’ll be very surprised.”

    Jabbar joined the Army in 2007, serving on active duty in human resources and information technology and deploying to Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010, the service said. He transferred to the Army Reserve in 2015 and left in 2020 with the rank of staff sergeant.

    Hours after the attack, several coroner’s office vans were parked on the corner of Bourbon and Canal streets, cordoned off by police tape with crowds of dazed tourists standing around, some trying to navigate their luggage through the labyrinth of blockades.

    Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry urged people to avoid the area, which remained an active crime scene.

    “We looked out our front door and saw caution tape and dead silence and it’s eerie,” said Tessa Cundiff, an Indiana native who moved to the French Quarter a few years ago. “This is not what we fell in love with, it’s sad.”

    Nearby, life went on as normal in the city known to some for a motto that translates to “let the good times roll.” At a cafe a block from where the truck came to rest, people crowded in for breakfast as upbeat pop music played. Two blocks away, people drank at a bar, seemingly as if nothing happened.

    President Joe Biden, speaking to reporters in Delaware, said he felt “anger and frustration” over the attack but that he would refrain from further comment until more is known.

    “My heart goes out to the victims and their families who were simply trying to celebrate the holiday,” Biden said in a statement. “There is no justification for violence of any kind, and we will not tolerate any attack on any of our nation’s communities.”

    The attack is the latest example of a vehicle being used as a weapon to carry out mass violence, a trend that has alarmed law enforcement officials and that can be difficult to protect against.

    If confirmed as IS-inspired, the attack would represent the deadliest such assault on U.S. soil in years. FBI officials have repeatedly warned about an elevated international terrorism threat due to the Israel-Hamas war.

    In the last year, the FBI has disrupted other potential attacks inspired by the militant group, including in October when agents arrested an Afghan man in Oklahoma accused of plotting an Election Day attack targeting large crowds.


    Tucker reported from Washington, D.C. and Mustian reported from New York. Associated Press reporters Stephen Smith, Chevel Johnson and Brett Martel in New Orleans; Jeff Martin in Atlanta; Alanna Durkin Richer and Zeke Miller in Washington, D.C.; and Darlene Superville in New Castle, Delaware; and Michael R. Sisak in New York contributed to this report.

    Tucker covers national security in Washington for The Associated Press, with a focus on the FBI and Justice Department and the special counsel cases against former President Donald Trump.

    JACK BROOK Brook covers Louisiana government, infrastructure and environmental issues from New Orleans. He is a Report for America corps member.

















  • (first time seeing this and now playing catch-up from the first chapter)

    Many women cannot hear male pain about love because it sounds like an indictment of female failure.

    Oof. I have experienced this from my family (brothers and mom) so many times throughout my childhood, teens, and early adulthood and probably still would if I still talked to them.

    I would talk about my pain and the response was to defend women, which, if I were attacking women, would be perfectly appropriate. But I wasn’t attacking women, I was expressing my pain. That pain was never heard and was instead invalidated as an attack on women.