Possible Pet-associated Baylisascariasis in Child, Canada

Abstract

To the Editor: Baylisascaris procyonis, a roundworm parasite of raccoons (Procyon lotor), increasingly is being documented as a cause of severe human disease (1). Approximately 130 species of wild and domesticated animals have been affected with B. procyonis neural larva migrans, and the parasite is increasingly recognized as a cause of human encephalitis (2; K. Kazacos, unpub. data). The first recognized human case was reported in 1984 in a 10-month-old child in Pennsylvania, USA (3). Since then, ≈30 additional cases of severe or fatal B. procyonis encephalitis have been reported in the United States (4–7; K. Kazacos, pers. comm.). To our knowledge, only 1 account of human B. procyonis infection has been reported in Canada (in 2009) (8). We report another case of human B. procyonis infection in Canada, indicating its probable transmission from peridomestic raccoons.