The Canberra hospital patient marks the world-first case of the parasite being found in humans. Ophidascaris robertsi is a roundworm usually found in pythons.

“He just looked at it and said, ‘Oh my goodness, this is Ophidascaris robertsi’.” “Canberra is a small place, so we sent the worm, which was still alive, straight to the laboratory of a CSIRO scientist who is very experienced with parasites,” Senanayake said. Their search was fruitless and they looked to outside experts for help.

“We just went for the textbooks, looking up all the different types of roundworm that could cause neurological invasion and disease,” Senanayake said. The surprising discovery prompted a team at the hospital to quickly come together to uncover what kind of roundworm it was and, most importantly, decide on any further treatment the patient might require.

“Neurosurgeons regularly deal with infections in the brain, but this was a once-in-a-career finding. “But the neurosurgeon certainly didn’t go in there thinking they would find a wriggling worm,” Senanayake said. The roundworm specimen after being pulled out of the woman’s brain.

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