A disease affecting sheep and cattle, also called sturdy or turnsick, caused by a parasitic tapeworm that forms cysts in the brain and spinal cord.
Possibly from 'giddy,' since the disease causes affected animals to act disoriented and dizzy. The disease is caused by the larval stage of the tapeworm Taenia multiceps, historically a serious problem for livestock.
Gids was a devastating disease that killed thousands of sheep in medieval Europe, but nobody understood it was caused by a tapeworm until the 1800s—understanding parasites revolutionized both medicine and farming!
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