title: First human case of fatal Halicephalobus gingivalis meningoencephalitis in Australia.
abstract: Halicephalobus gingivalis (previously Micronema deletrix) is a free-living nematode known to cause opportunistic infections, mainly in horses. Human infections are very rare, but all cases described to date involved fatal meningoencephalitis. Here we report the first case of H. gingivalis infection in an Australian human patient, confirmed by nematode morphology and sequencing of ribosomal DNA. The implications of this case are discussed, particularly, the need to evaluate real-time PCR as a diagnostic tool.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, SA Pathology, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia chuankok.lim@health.sa.gov.au.
authors.forename: Chuan Kok
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.affiliation: Department of Histopathology, SA Pathology, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: April
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Crawford
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, SA Pathology, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Casey V
authors.initials: CV
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Science, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Robin B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Gasser
authors.affiliation: Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Renjy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Science, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Anson V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Koehler
authors.affiliation: School of Medical and Applied Sciences, Central Queensland University, Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Richard S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Bradbury
authors.affiliation: College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia Tropical Health Solutions, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Rick
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Speare
authors.affiliation: Department of Histopathology, SA Pathology, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Deepak
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dhatrak
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, SA Pathology, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Gerhard F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Weldhagen
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D001315:Australia; D001921:Brain / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D006651:Histocytochemistry; D006801:Humans; D008590:Meningoencephalitis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology*; D008853:Microscopy; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017168:Rhabditida / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D017196:Rhabditida Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004275:DNA, Ribosomal