First-Of-Its-Kind: 8 cm Live Worm Found In 64-Year-Old Australian Woman's Brain

In the world's first case, doctors at the Australian National University and Canberra Hospital successfully removed a live eight-centimeter worm from the brain of a 64-year-old woman.

The patient, who had been experiencing a variety of health problems for an extended period, was diagnosed with an infection caused by the Ophidascaris robertsi roundworm. This parasite is typically found in carpet python snakes and kangaroos, but this is the first known case of it infecting a human brain.

The worm was found to be living and wriggling inside the woman's brain. It is believed that she may have contracted the infection by coming into contact with snake feces while gathering edible shrubs near her home.

The worm's larvae were also suspected to have affected the patient's other organs, including the lungs and liver.

An infectious disease expert and one of the attending doctors at the hospital, Sanjaya Senanayake, stated, "This is the first-ever human case of Ophidascaris to be described in the world." Additionally, it is the first case involving the brain of any mammalian species, be it human or otherwise.

The patient, originally from New South Wales, was initially hospitalized in 2021 due to complaints of abdominal pain and diarrhea. By 2022, she began displaying signs of forgetfulness and depression, which led to her referral to Canberra Hospital. Abnormalities detected through an MRI scan of her brain necessitated surgery. Subsequent DNA testing confirmed the presence of the parasite after the brain scan.

Researchers speculate that the woman contracted the infection while gathering edible shrubs near her residence, which were likely contaminated with parasitic larvae present in snake feces.

While this incident is the first recorded instance of such an infection globally, Sanjaya Senanayake believes that similar cases may come to light in the upcoming years.

The study detailing these findings was published in the journal "Emerging Infectious Diseases."

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 60% of known infectious diseases in humans can be transmitted from animals. Moreover, three out of every four new or emerging infectious diseases in humans originate from animals.