Sanjaya Senanayake, an infectious disease expert in Australia’s Canberra Hospital, was on duty that day and received a phone call from his colleagues in neurosurgery.
He was not expecting the next news.
This roundworm, which is 3 inches long and usually found on pythons is the first time it has been detected in a person.
It’s not supposed to develop in her. The virus is meant to be transmitted by small mammals, such as marsupials. Senanayake said that she was an “accidental host”. He said that the parasite had infected her lungs, liver, and brain.
A neurosurgeon investigating a patient’s mystery neurological symptoms in an Australian hospital was surprised to pluck a 3-inch wriggling worm from her brain.
Canberra Health Services / AP
The case is described in an article published in the journal Emerging Diseases, the latest issue.
Senanayake stated that the patient lived near a large lake where carpet pythons also reside. While she did not come into direct contact with a snake, she collected native plants from the area around the lake to cook with.
Doctors believed that she had unknowingly eaten the eggs of pythons due to contamination.
Researchers warned that these larvae can survive for long periods of time on animal hosts. They also said they expect to see more cases among humans.
Senanayake stated that 30 new infections have appeared in the past 30 years. He added that nearly three-quarters of these come from animal populations.
He described it as a result from human interference in the natural habitat of animals.
He added, “We’ll see more of this type of infection.”
