1. Baylisascaris procyonis: An Emerging Helminthic Zoonosis
- Author
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Frank J. Sorvillo, Lawrence R. Ash, O.G.W. Berlin, JoAnne Yatabe, Chris Degiorgio, and Stephen A. Morse
- Subjects
Adult ,Disease reservoir ,Veterinary medicine ,Adolescent ,Nematoda ,Baylisascaris procyonis ,Clinical Sciences ,Zoology ,lcsh:Medicine ,Baylisascaris ,Communicable Diseases ,Microbiology ,Communicable Diseases, Emerging ,lcsh:Infectious and parasitic diseases ,larva migrans ,Risk Factors ,Zoonoses ,parasitic diseases ,medicine ,Prevalence ,Helminths ,Animals ,Humans ,lcsh:RC109-216 ,Preschool ,Child ,Nematode Infections ,Feces ,Disease Reservoirs ,Emerging ,Larva ,biology ,Infectious dose ,Zoonosis ,fungi ,lcsh:R ,Infant ,Middle Aged ,biology.organism_classification ,medicine.disease ,Bioterrorism ,United States ,Medical Microbiology ,Child, Preschool ,Public Health and Health Services ,Synopsis ,Raccoons ,epidemiology - Abstract
Baylisascaris procyonis, a roundworm infection of raccoons, is emerging as an important helminthic zoonosis, principally affecting young children. Raccoons have increasingly become peridomestic animals living in close proximity to human residences. When B. procyonis eggs are ingested by a host other than a raccoon, migration of larvae through tissue, termed larval migrans, ensues. This larval infection can invade the brain and eye, causing severe disease and death. The prevalence of B. procyonis infection in raccoons is often high, and infected animals can shed enormous numbers of eggs in their feces. These eggs can survive in the environment for extended periods of time, and the infectious dose of B. procyonis is relatively low. Therefore, the risk for human exposure and infection may be greater than is currently recognized.
- Published
- 2002