Sunday, December 22, 2013

Answer to Case 287

Answer:  Kissing Fleas!  (Ctenocephalides sp. - dog and cat flea) 


From Blaine Mathison who really outdid himself on this one:

Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house
the fleas were all nestled in the fur of the mouse.
They paired with their loved ones under a sprig of mistletoe,
A gift from Cousin Chigoe, from down south in the toe.

The larvae were pupating in the bed of the host,
carrying Dipylidium cysticercoids, an infectious dose!
The Yersinia pestis churned in the foregut
until such time when the proventriculus would erupt!

All of a sudden there appeared such a clatter!
The fleas sprang from the fur to see what was the matter.
Crawling up the leg of the host, with such stealth and so quick,
was the holiday icon known as St. Tick.

“Now Ixodes, now Dermacentor, and Amblyomma!
On Rhipicephalus, Ornithodoros, don’t forget Hyalomma.”
He got right to work and delivered the fleas' presents
full of pathogens to spread to medieval peasants,

Then he sprang to his sleigh and let out a whistle,
Then they took off into the night like a guided missile.
But I heard him exclaim as flew out of sight,

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good bite!


Happy New Years Everyone!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

LOL! That was hilarious!

Lee