Ever wonder why we do annual fecal checks on your pet? A 2007 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report shows about 14 percent of the US human population is infected with roundworms. Fortunately, relatively few people develop the disease but when they do it’s potentially devastating.
If the roundworm infestation is only a mild one then there will be few easily identifiable symptoms. There is the possibility of intermittent abdominal pain and “flu like” symptoms. Coughing and wheezing could occur when the roundworm larvae migrates to the lung. Severe infestations can result in vomiting, restlessness, sleep disturbances and blockage of the intestine resulting in extreme abdominal pain. The large size of roundworms (up to 40 cm long) means that they can literally block up the gastrointestinal tract with their bodies.
The top six internal parasite infections from 2008: tapeworms, roundworms, coccidia, hookworms, giardia and whipworms.