Nematode, Giant Parasitic Worm Filmed Slithering Out Of Dead Spider (VIDEO)

A video of a live parasite unravelling itself from the carcass of a spider has clocked up over a million views on YouTube.

Posted by Australia-based user BaskWith2, it comes with the following explanation: “Ok so I was just editing my latest montage and this huge spider came out, so I sprayed it and killed it, then this fricken alien worm came out of it!”

The clip is appropriately titled “WTF IS THIS?!?”

Among the thousands of horrified comments is speculation the “alien worm” is “a baby flying spaghetti monster”, an extra from The Thing, and an energetic strand of chow mein.

However several contributors were able to stop screaming for long enough to correctly identify it as a parasitic nematode – aka a roundworm.

What’s more, Harvard University entomologist Dr Brian Farrell told The Huffington Post human beings are infested with thousands of tiny nematodes.

He said: “Most have no obvious effect on us, and we are mostly unaware of their presence, but a few are large enough to cause diseases such as trichinosis."

Pass the sick bucket.

(By the way, according to NHS Direct, a roundworm infection occurs if someone swallows the microscopic eggs in contaminated food or water - or touches contaminated soil. Symptoms can inclue a dry cough as well as a high temperature but infections can be treated with medication. There are around 80 cases of roundworm infection reported in England, Wales and Northern Ireland each year)