The discovery of Angiostrongylus cantonensis as a cause of human eosinophilic meningitis.
The theoretical and subsequent confirmation in 1961 of the rat lungworm, Angiostrongylus cantonensis, as the causative agent o f eosinophilic meningitis is one o f the remarkable parasitological findings of the twentieth century. Here, Joseph Alicato briefly summarizes the early history and his epidemiological studies on the relationship between the parasite and the epidemics o f encephalitis that swept through Oceania after the Second World War.
Department of Animal Sciences, University o f Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA.
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Alicata