The 'I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!' jungle has been taken over by a flesh-eating eye bug.
Larry Lamb
The cast and crew of the popular creepy-crawly show could be at risk of developing the horrific disease called Acanthamoeba keratitis, which causes extreme pain and even blindness, as the camp based in Murwillumbah, Australia, conditions are perfect for the parasite to thrive.
Leading UK laser eye surgeon Dr David Allamby, medical director at London's Focus Clinic, told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "Acanthamoeba keratitis is an infection which can cause serious and life-changing consequences. It can also be excruciatingly painful. The cornea is one of the most sensitive organs in the human body, containing a high density of pain receptors.
"The biggest risk of exposure to the organism is through water, and in turn poor hygiene. The vast majority of cases involve contact lens wearers, particularly where lenses aren't cleaned properly.
"But anyone nursing a corneal injury is susceptible to developing the infection.The bad news for those involved with 'I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here!' is that they are well and truly in the danger zone - there has been a well-documented 'cluster' of cases in that precise area near Brisbane in recent years, which has had Australian surgeons extremely worried. With many of the show's tasks based around water, and with the added risk of a participant scratching their eye."
But it's not just the flesh-eating bug that has worried producers of the show, as the camp has also been invaded by deadly spiders and poisonous snakes over the past few days.
Eight funnel-webs, the world's deadliest spider, and a brown snake, the world's second most venomous land snake, were discovered in a camera hide near to where the camp mates sleep.
The show's doctor Bob said: "In Australia we have the world's most dangerous spider which is the funnel web. In fact this year in one of the camera hides we found eight. That's the most we've ever found in one day. There is an anti-venom and of course none of the celebs have ever been bitten by them - a couple of crew have been bitten in the past. Normally we don't get brown snakes - we haven't had one for 15 years. They prefer open paddocks. And ours is a rainforest. last week we found one in the top helipad. They are very vicious snakes."
This year's camp mates consist of Larry Lamb, Carol Vorderman, Lisa Snowdon, Adam Thomas, Scarlett Moffatt, Sam Quek, Ola Jordan, Jordan Banjo, Joel Dommett and Wayne Bridge, although some more celebrities are set to be thrown into the mix this week.
Tagged in Carol Vorderman Lisa Snowdon Larry Lamb