• Question: What is the worst bug you have come across and why?

    Asked by charltonfc to Duncan, Grant, Julie, Nik, Rachel on 12 Mar 2013. This question was also asked by dom1234, libbygbgb, unicorn9.
    • Photo: Grant Campbell

      Grant Campbell answered on 12 Mar 2013:

      If by “bug” we mean insect, then in New Zealand (where I’m from) we have very large insects called wetas, which are not nice!

      If we mean bacteria, then there are lots to choose from – cholera is a pretty nasty one – in the past you could be healthy at breakfast and dead by dinnertime from cholera.

    • Photo: Duncan Gaskin

      Duncan Gaskin answered on 17 Mar 2013:

      For me the worst insect bug I’ve come across is called a tick. It is the worst because it is tiny and buries its teeth into your skin so that you can’t pull it off! The only way to remove it is with a tick fork which is a very small thing like needle that you use to get it out, you have to twist it out – some clockwise and some anticlockwise!

      As for bacteria, there are a couple of real nasties I’ve encountered, Campylobacter jejuni which if you get it (and I have 🙁 ) makes you very sick (for the first few days you feel like you are dead, and for the next few you wish you were!!!). The other is Clostridium botulinum which produces a very dangerous toxin that can kill you.

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