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BAYLISASCARIS - CANADA (ONTARIO)
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Date: Tue, 6 Sep 2005
From: Allison Chris <achris@toronto.ca>
On Thu 25 Aug 2005, Toronto Public Health (TPH) received notice of a rare
human infection with the raccoon roundworm, _Baylisascaris procyonis_.
A 7 year old boy with a history of autism, moderate mental retardation, and
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder presented to the emergency
department with a 1 to 2 week history of decreased food intake, decreased
level of consciousness, and newly onset bed wetting. On examination he was
febrile with some neck stiffness and increased elbow flexion, leading to
hospital admittance with a diagnosis of encephalitis.
The boy is still in hospital and in a stable condition after starting
treatment, but has shown no recovery to his baseline level of function. To
date, no cases of human neurologic disease caused by _B. procyonis_ have
been successfully treated. The infected child has a history of geophagia
and was known to play in the yard of his house, which is in an urban area
frequented by raccoons. Environmental inspections found an accumulation of
fresh and old feces in the yard and roof of the house. Tests for the
presence of this roundworm in the raccoon feces were positive.
Only 14 probable or confirmed cases of severe or fatal human _B. procyonis_
infection have been found in the literature. This is the 1st known human
case of _B. procyonis_ in Canada.
--
Allison Chris MD MSc CCFP
Community Medicine Resident
Department of Public Health Sciences
University of Toronto
Acting Associate Medical Officer of Health
Communicable Disease Control
Toronto Public Health
277 Victoria St, Toronto ON M5B 1W2
<achris@toronto.ca>
[The parasite is commonly known as raccoon roundworm (_Baylisascaris
procyonis_) and lives in the digestive tract of raccoons. The microscopic
eggs are found in raccoon feces. The eggs must mature to the infective
stage, which takes 2 to 4 weeks, before they can infect humans. The finding
of raccoon droppings in the child's play area and the fact that he had a
history of geophagia most probably explain how he was infected. - Mod.EP]
[see also:
2002
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Baylisascaris - USA (California) 20020520.4282
Baylisascaris procyonis, decontamination 20020112.3238
Baylisascaris procyonis, humans - USA (02) 20020109.3214
Baylisascaris procyonis, humans - USA 20020108.3197]
......................ep/pg/sh
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