“What is this worm?” is all this reader asks in her submission regarding the orange, worm-shaped object pictured below. The thing looks rather goopy; we might even go so far as to say it does not look completely solid. As much as our reader has captured a striking photo, we must say right off the bat that we have no idea what this is. It doesn’t seem to have any distinguishable features, like eyespots, segmentations, appendages, or varying coloration. It just looks like a cream-colored blob. On top of that, without any context whatsoever, we would not be able to identify the creature based on any other factors.

What we can do is give some general advice. Hopefully some of it will be appropriate, but hopefully not all of it is: it will completely depend on our reader’s situation. If our reader thinks she is experiencing an infestation (which would be become obvious by a high number of roaming worms, and perhaps signs of damage to items in her home if they are pests – such as textile items or wooden furniture), then she will want to do a deep clean of her home. Cleaning is always a vital step to controlling, eliminating, and preventing infestations. Keeping one’s bathroom and kitchens clean, as well as one’s drains, prevents the build up of mold, algae, fungi, and other growths that occur when organic matter is left to decompose. This can attract all sorts of critters. Similarly, vacuuming will eliminate any unseen eggs of any creatures infesting her home.

If this is not an infestation, it is possible that this worm either wandered in through an open window or door, or that it was accidentally brought in on our reader’s clothing and shoes, or on the coat of her pet (provided she has one). To prevent these accidental invasions, one can always check one’s clothing, shoes and pets before entering the home after a day out. Likewise, if she has any torn window screens, she will want to mend or replace them, as all kinds of creatures can enter the home that way. Similarly, sealing any sizable cracks in windows and floors helps with that.

In the case that our reader is worried for her health, we recommend consulting a medical parasitologist: a physician which specializes in diagnosing and treating medical issues caused by organisms. To find a medical parasitologist or other health care provider who can actually help, our reader can do one or more of the following:

– Visit our parasite care resources page here: https://www.allaboutworms.com/get-medical-attention-and-tests-for-parasites

– Search for a medical parasitologist in her area using this directory of medical parasitology consultants: https://www.astmh.org/for-astmh-members/clinical-consultants-directory.

– Search for a local parasitologist by doing a Google search for “medical parasitologist (name of the closest big city)” or “tropical medicine specialist (name of the closest big city)”.

To conclude, we do not know what it is our reader found. Not only do we not recognize the worm, but it does not have any identifiable physical characteristics. Besides, without any context, it becomes increasingly difficult to identify such a worm and to give the right kind of advice. We hope nonetheless that this brief overview of some of the things our reader can do, depending on her situation, proves helpful, and we wish her the very best.

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