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Filarial Worms
Filarial worms attack the human lymphatic system. The three types of filarial worms are Wuchereria bancrofti, Brugia timori and Brugia malayi. These worms come from eggs that a fly or mosquito inserts into the host. The worms travel through the lymphatic system, disrupting the lymphatic function and causing the disease known as elephantiasis. Elephantiasis is the extreme enlargement of limbs and genitalia in filarial worm victims.
Guinea Worms
Guinea worms enter their human hosts via drinking water. Female guinea worms pose a problem to the host -- they grow up to 3 feet in length, making them difficult and painful to remove. After roughly a year of growth, the female worms cause an area on the host's skin to blister. This process is painful for the host and occurs on the legs and feet more than 80 percent of the time. The worms -- typically one per host -- come partially out of the blisters. The burning of the blisters causes the hosts to put the area in water. This then causes the worm to release its young into the water, perpetuating the infectious cycle. If the worm dies in the host, then it can cause serious infection.
Horsehair Worms
Horsehair worms are grasshopper parasites with an unusual side effect. They drive their insect hosts to drown themselves when it is time for the worms to reproduce. Horsehair worm reproduction occurs in water, so the worms want their hosts to lead them to a water source and jump in. However, this causes the host to drown, as it cannot swim. It is not clear how the horsehair worms manipulate their hosts.
Leishmania
Leishmania are single-celled parasites. Hosts get leishmania infections from other hosts or from the bites of sand flies. One of the main symptoms of leishmaniasis -- the disease that leishmania cause -- are large ulcers on the skin. Rampant infection is similar to leprosy. Visceral leishmaniasis penetrates deeper into the host, causing organ malfunction.
Parasitoid Wasps
Parasitoid wasps are horrifying in that, instead of using their stingers for defense, they use their stingers to inject their young into an insect host. Parasitoid wasps, as opposed to parasitic wasps, are those whose young eat their hosts, sometimes slowly and from the inside out, as they develop.
Candiru
Candiru are a type of parasitic catfish found only in the Amazon. These parasites are infamous in the region for their reported ability to swim up a stream of urine and lodge themselves in human urethras. Candiru also sometimes lodge into the vaginas of women who swim in the Amazon. However, these deadly organisms typically parasitize fish.
Sacculina Carcini
Sacculina carcini are the most horrifying parasites on the planet because they take over all the functions of the host, selfishly reserving all resources for themselves. They can control the crabs that they inject themselves into to the point that the crab eventually dies. The parasites cause the crabs to become sterile and starve themselves in order to feed their parasite.