Couple almost eaten alive by their dinner

Jul 7 2011 By Lynn Tulloch

You may have heard the phrase ‘being eaten alive by midges’ but have you ever considered actually being ‘eaten alive’?

This is what happened to an Australian couple who became ill after eating a black breem they had caught and fried when on holiday in Western Australia.

The couple are thought to be the first infected by the parasitic worm gnathostomiasis in Australia, a small comfort considering the 52 year old man could see and feel the movement of the larvae under his skin.

These worms are less than an inch long but they have super long sharp teeth that eat away at your tissue usually causing chest pains, nausea and diarrhoea. If untreated the parasitic worm can cause paralysis by penetrating the spinal cord, luckily this couple got a course of antibiotics to kill it off.