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Raccoon disease boy battles blindness
A toddler suffering from raccoon roundworm disease has battled blindness and other neurological effects of the parasite in McMaster Children's Hospital for the past two weeks.
The boy's parents, Danielle and Josh, called The Spectator with an update on his condition but asked that their last names and the name of their son not be published.
They say their 14-month-old seems to be gaining some strength from treatment at Mac, but he is still completely blind and cannot sit up on his own.
The disease can be contracted by ingesting roundworm eggs found in raccoon feces. It's potentially fatal.
"It's very difficult seeing him like this," said Josh. "He's fighting and is in better spirits than he was ... the treatment they have him on is keeping it at bay -- keeping it from killing him."
Josh had a message for parents: Keep your garbage in tightly sealed containers to deter raccoons from coming around your home.
He said the city's public health department found 30 to 35 samples of raccoon feces in their back yard. Josh purchased garbage containers after his son's illness. Prior to that he had used regular garbage bags on their back porch.
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