Pink and Gray Worm Found in Urine May be Annelid

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“Can you please identify the worm in this picture that is found in human urine?” is all this reader asks in his submission regarding the gray and pink worm pictured below. The worm is rather long, segmented, and has semi-transparent skin: at least, so we think. Our theory is that the pink part near the end of its body is a view into the inside of the worm. Based on the photo, we would think this is some type of annelid, though our identification should not be taken at face value. The reason for this is the lack of context of our reader’s situation: he does not specify if the worm came from someone’s body, and was then found in their urine, or if somebody peed, then looked in the toilet, and saw the worm there.

The difference here is whether or not the worm came from a body or not, and it does make a big difference. If our reader is concerned it came from somebody’s body, then we are not able to identify the worm at all, and this is because when someone suspects a worm came from a human body, we must assume that that situation is potentially medical in nature; since we are not medical professionals, we cannot diagnose that kind of issue.

So, if our reader is concerned that the worm came from someone, we recommend he, or the person concerned, consult a medical parasitologist: a physician that specializes in parasitic infections. To find a medical parasitologist, our reader can do one or more of the following:
1) Search for a medical parasitologist in his area using this directory of medical parasitology consultants: https://www.astmh.org/for-astmh-members/clinical-consultants-directory.
2) 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)”.
3) Get in touch with Dr. Omar Amin at the Parasitology Center at https://www.parasitetesting.com.

Now, in the case that there are no concerns about this worm coming from a person’s body, we would say that this is some type of annelid. We are aware that this is quite a broad identification: there are over 20,000 species of annelids after all. Annelids are a phylum of worms that are characterized by their segmented bodies and their bilateral symmetry (meaning both side of their body are structurally and visually identical). This phylum includes leeches, ragworms and earthworms. This worm looks most like an earthworm, though it is missing the clitellum (the thick band of skin that typically encircles the center of an earthworm’s body. That said, immature earthworms are known to be missing their clitellums, so that is still possible. In any case, we suggest our reader move the worm outside and that he avoid making skin-to-skin contact as he does so: touching unknown organisms can result in unforeseen allergic reactions.

Worms can find their way into people’s toilets due to leaks somewhere underground, which only a professional would be able to fix. If our reader notices that the water from his taps is discolored, foul-smelling or -tasting, or has inconsistent temperature or pressure, then he might be experiencing a leak and should probably contact a professional to confirm the issue and deal with it.

To conclude, we cannot say for certain what our reader found in the urine, as we do not know the circumstances of its discovery. If he is concerned it came from a person, that person should consult a medical professional, and we recommend seeing a medical parasitologist, as they have the best shot at diagnosing the issue if there is one. If he does not think it came from a person, we would say it is definitely some type of annelid, possibly an earthworm. We hope this helps and we wish him the very best!

 

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Pink and Gray Worm Found in Urine May be Annelid
Article Name
Pink and Gray Worm Found in Urine May be Annelid
Description
"Can you please identify the worm in this picture that is found in human urine?" is all this reader asks in his submission regarding the gray and pink worm pictured below. The worm is rather long, segmented, and has semi-transparent skin: at least, so we think. Our theory is that the pink part near the end of its body is a view into the inside of the worm. Based on the photo, we would think this is some type of annelid, though our identification should not be taken at face value. The reason for this is the lack of context of our reader's situation: he does not specify if the worm came from someone's body, and was then found in their urine, or if somebody peed, then looked in the toilet, and saw the worm there.
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Author: Worm Researcher Anton

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