The world’s first human infection by a python-specific roundworm was discovered in an Australian woman. The case highlights the increasing threat of zoonotic diseases and the paramount importance of food safety. The world’s first case of a new parasitic infection in humans has been discovered by
Researchers have identified the first known human infection of a roundworm, typically found in carpet pythons, in a 64-year-old Australian woman. Theroundworm was extracted from the patient’s brain. It is believed she contracted the roundworm after collecting and consuming Warrigal greens near a lake where the python had shed the parasite.
“Normally the larvae from the roundworm are found in small mammals and marsupials, which are eaten by the python, allowing the life cycle to complete itself in the snake.”roundworms are common to carpet pythons. It typically lives in a python’s esophagus and stomach, and sheds its eggs in the host’s feces. Humans infected withRoundworms are incredibly resilient and able to thrive in a wide range of environments.
Canberra Hospital’s Director of Clinical Microbiology and Associate Professor at the ANU Medical School, Karina Kennedy, said her symptoms first started in January 2021. “In 2022, she began experiencing subtle changes in memory and thought processing and underwent a brain MRI scan which demonstrated an atypical lesion within the right frontal lobe of the brain.”
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