Skip directly to site content Skip directly to page options Skip directly to A-Z link Skip directly to A-Z link Skip directly to A-Z link
Volume 8, Number 4—April 2002
Synopsis

Baylisascaris procyonis: An Emerging Helminthic Zoonosis

Frank J. Sorvillo*Comments to Author , Lawrence R. Ash*, O.G.W. Berlin*†, JoAnne Yatabe†, Chris Degiorgio‡, and Stephen A. Morse§
Author affiliations: *University of California Los Angeles School of Public Health, Los Angeles, California; †Specialty Labs, Santa Monica, California, USA; ‡University of California Los Angeles School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California, USA; §Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta Georgia, USA;

Main Article

Table

Reported human cases of larval Baylisascaris procyonis infection

Yeara Location Age Sex Clinical Outcome Reference
1980 Pennsylvania 10 mo Male Eosinophilic meningoencephalitis Fatal 17
1984 Illinois 18 mo Male Eosinophilic meningoencephalitis Fatal 18
1990 New York 13 mo Male Eosinophilic meningoencephalitis Severe neurologic sequelae 19
1992 California 29 yr Male Diffuse unilateral subacute neuroretinitis Ocular sequelae 21
1991 Germany 48 yr Female Diffuse unilateral subacute neuroretinitis Ocular sequelae 22
1995 Massachusetts 10 yr Male Esoinophilic cardiac pseudotumor Fatal 20
1996 Michigan 6 yr Male Chorioretinitis, neurologic deficits Severe neurologic sequelae 23
1996 Michigan 2 yr Male Eosinophilic meningoencephalitis, chorioretinitis Severe neurologic sequelae 23
1997 California 13 mo Male Eosinophilic meningoencephalitis Severe neurologic sequelae 2
1998 California 11 mo Male Eosinophilic encephalitis Severe neurologic sequelae 1
1999 California 17 yr Male Eosinophilic meningoencephalitis Fatal b

aYear of onset or report.
b Pers. comm., W. Murray.

Main Article

References
  1. Park  SY, Glaser  C, Murray  WJ, Kazacos  KR, Rowley  HA, Fredrick  DR, Raccoon roundworm (Baylisascaris procyonis) encephalitis: case report and field investigation. Pediatrics. 2000;106:E56. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
  2. Rowley  HA, Uht  RM, Kazacos  KR, Sakanari  J, Wheaton  WV, Barkovich  AJ, Radiologic-pathologic findings in raccoon roundworm (Baylisascaris procyonis) encephalitis. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2000;21:415–20.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  3. Kazacos  KR, Boyce  WM. Baylisascaris larva migrans. J Am Vet Med Assoc. 1989;195:894–903.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  4. Hamann  KJ, Kephart  GM, Kazacos  KR, Gleich  GJ. Immunofluorescent localization of eosinophil granule major basic protein in fatal human cases of Baylisascaris procyonis infection. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1989;40:291–7.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  5. Kazacos  KR. Raccoon ascarids as a cause of larva migrans. Parasitol Today. 1986;2:253–5. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
  6. Beaver  P, Jung  RC, Cupp  EW. Clinical parasitology. Philadelphia: Lea & Febiger; 1984.
  7. Richardson  JA, Kazacos  KR, Thacker  HL, Dhillon  AS, Winterfield  RW. Verminous encephalitis in commercial chickens. Avian Dis. 1979;24:498–503. DOIGoogle Scholar
  8. Kazacos  KR, Kazacos  EA, Render  JA, Thacker  HL. Cerebrospinal nematodiasis and visceral larva migrans in an Australian (Latham’s) brush turkey. J Am Vet Med Assoc. 1982;818:1295–8.
  9. Kazacos  KR, Reed  WM, Thacker  HL. Cerebrospinal nematodiasis in pheasants. J Am Vet Med Assoc. 1986;189:1353–4.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  10. Van Andel  RA, Franklin  CL, Besch-Williford  C, Riley  LK, Hook  RR, Kazacos  KR. Cerebrospinal larva migrans due to Baylisascaris procyonis in a guinea pig colony. Lab Anim Sci. 1995;45:27–30.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  11. Kazacos  KR, Reed  WM, Kazacos  EA, Thacker  HL. Fatal cerebrospinal disease caused by Baylisascaris procyonis in domestic rabbits. J Am Vet Med Assoc. 1983;183:967–71.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  12. Kazacos  KR, Appel  GO, Thacker  HL. Cerebrospinal nematodiasis in a woodchuck suspected of having rabies. J Am Vet Med Assoc. 1981;179:1102–4.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  13. Campbell  GA, Hoover  JP, Russell  WC, Breazile  JE. Naturally occurring cerebral nematodiasis due to Baylisascaris larval migration in two black-and-white ruffed lemurs (Varecia variegata variegata) and suspected cases in three emus (Dromaius novaehollandiae). J Zoo Wildl Med. 1997;28:204–7.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  14. Williams  CK, McKown  RD, Veatch  JK, Applegate  RD. Baylisascaris sp. found in a wild northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus). J Wildl Dis. 1997;33:158–60.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  15. Rudmann  DG, Kazacos  KR, Storandt  ST, Harris  DL, Janovitz  EB. Baylisascaris procyonis larva migrans in a puppy: a case report and update for the veterinarian. J Am Anim Hosp Assoc. 1996;32:73–6.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  16. Fitzgerald  SD, White  MR, Kazacos  KR. Encephalitis in two porcupines due to Baylisascaris larval migration. J Vet Diagn Invest. 1991;3:359–62.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  17. Ball  RL, Dryden  M, Wilson  S, Veatch  J. Cerebrospinal nematodiasis in a white-handed gibbon (Hylobates lar) due to Baylisascaris sp. J Zoo Wildl Med. 1998;29:221–4.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  18. Huff  DS, Neafie  RC, Binder  MJ, De Leon  GA, Brown  LW, Kazacos  KR. The first fatal Baylisascaris infection in humans: an infant with eosinoplhilic meningoencephalitis. Pediatr Pathol. 1984;2:345–52. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
  19. Fox  AS, Kazacos  KR, Gould  PT, Thomas  C, Boyer  KM. Fatal eosinophilic meningoencephalitis and visceral larva migrans caused by the raccoon ascarid Baylisascaris procyonis. N Engl J Med. 1985;312:1619–23.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  20. Cunningham  CK, Kazacos  KR, McMillan  JA, Lucas  JA, McAuley  JB, Wozniak  EJ, Diagnosis and management of Baylisascaris procyonis infection in an infant with nonfatal meningoencephalitis. Clin Infect Dis. 1994;18:868–72.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  21. Boschetti  A, Kasznica  J. Visceral larva migrans induced eosinophilic cardiac pseudotumor: a cause of sudden death in a child. J Forensic Sci. 1995;40:1097–9.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  22. Goldberg  MA, Kazacos  KR, Boyce  WM, Ai  E, Katz  B. Diffuse unilateral subacute neuroretinitis. Morphometric, serologic, and epidemiologic support for Baylisascaris as a causative agent. Ophthalmology. 1993;100:1695–701.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  23. Kuchle  M, Knorr  HL, Medenblik-Frysch  S, Weber  A, Bauer  C, Naumann  GO. Diffuse unilateral subacute neuroretinitis syndrome in a German most likely caused by the raccoon roundworm, Baylisascaris procyonis. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 1993;231:48–51. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
  24. Gavin  PJ, Shulman  ST, Kazacos  KR, Davis  AT, Mets  MB, Byrd  S, Neural larva migrans caused by the raccoon roundworm Baylisascaris procyonis: Two pediatric cases from Chicago, Illinois. American Society of Microbiology Conference, May 2001, Abstract No. C-443.
  25. Kazacos  KR. Byalisascaris procyonis and related species. In: Sanuel WM, Pybus MJ, Cawthorn RJ, editors. Parasitic diseases of wild mammals. Ames (IA): Iowa State University Press; 2001.
  26. Raymond  LA, Gutierrez  Y, Strong  LE, Wander  AH, Buten  R, Cordan  D. Living retinal nematode (filarial-like) destroyed with photocoagulation. Ophthamology. 1978;85:944–9.
  27. Orihel  T, Ash  LR. Parasites in human tissue. Chicago: American Society of Clinical Pathologists; 1995.
  28. Boyce  WM, Asai  DJ, Wilder  JK, Kazacos  KR. Physicochemical characterization and monoclonal and polyclonal antibody recognition of Baylisascaris procyonis larval excretory-secretory antigens. J Parasitol. 1989;75:540–8. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
  29. Boyce  WM, Branstetter  BA, Kazacos  KR. Comparative analysis of larval excretory-secretory antigens of Baylisascaris procyonis, Toxocara canis and Ascaris suum by Western blotting and enzyme immunoassay. Int J Parasitol. 1988;18:109–13. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
  30. Gass  JDM, Gilbert  WR, Guerry  RK, Scelfo  R. Diffuse unilateral subacute neuroretinitis. Opthalmology. 1978;85:521–45.
  31. Anderson  DC, Greenwood  R, Fishman  M, Kagan  IG. Acute infantile hemiplegia with cerebrospinal fluid eosinophilic pleocytosis: an unusual case of visceral larva migrans. J Pediatr. 1975;86:247–9. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
  32. Jacobson  JE, Kazacos  KR, Montague  FH. Prevalence of eggs of Baylisascaris procyonis (Nematoda:Ascaroidea) in raccoon scats from an urban and a rural community. J Wildl Dis. 1982;18:461–4.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  33. Henderson  DA. The looming threat of bioterrism. Science. 1999;283:1279–82. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
  34. Phills  JA, Harrold  AJ, Whiteman  GV, Perelmutter  L. Pulmonary infiltrates, asthma and eosinophilia due to Ascaris suum infestation in man. N Engl J Med. 1972;286:965–70.PubMedGoogle Scholar

Main Article

Page created: July 15, 2010
Page updated: July 15, 2010
Page reviewed: July 15, 2010
The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.
file_external