Question: What is the most dangerous disease that you have uncounted in your research?

Marisol Collins answered on 10 Nov 2016:

In my time as a researcher, the most dangerous disease is probably the one I am working on now for my PhD. It is caused by Echinococcus, a tiny tapeworm of dogs that can spread to other species, including farm animals and humans. The reason it is so dangerous is that in many species it can cause terrible diseases, for example something called Hydatid Disease. The worm causes big cysts (like fluid filled balloons) to develop in the liver and lungs, and these can cause people and animals to become very ill. What also makes it really dangerous is that it can take many years for these cysts to form, so you don’t know you have the parasite until the cysts are very big (sometimes as big as a football), and by then it is very difficult to treat.