In this episode of the Virulent Vortex, Dave Civitello discusses snails and schistosomes. Expecting that schistosomes from humans and cattle could hybridize and create super-parasites, Civitello found a much bigger problem. As he explains, cattle deposit huge amounts of feces into water bodies, where they fertilize algae, thereby providing food for snails and causing more transmission of parasites. While building fences around ponds may seem like an easy solution, ecology is telling a different story.

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