Australian woman suffers mystery symptoms; doctors find parasitic roundworm in her brain

In a groundbreaking medical revelation, an Australian woman underwent surgery to remove a parasitic roundworm measuring 8cm from her brain. This remarkable incident centered around a 64-year-old English woman residing in New South Wales, Australia. Commencing in January 2021, her health challenges encompassed abdominal pain, diarrhea, an ongoing dry cough, and night sweats. The situation further deteriorated, manifesting memory lapses and depression by 2022, which prompted her hospitalization at Canberra Hospital.

Upon conducting a brain MRI, medical professionals identified a mobile helminth, a parasitic roundworm known as 'Ophidascaris robertsi', residing within a lesion in her right frontal lobe. The woman underwent surgery, during which the 8cm-long and 1mm-diameter roundworm was successfully removed.

What makes this case truly remarkable is that 'Ophidascaris robertsi', a roundworm typically associated with pythons, had never been found in humans before. This instance in Canberra Hospital marked the world's first known case of a human being infected by this parasite.


Normally, this parasitic worm resides within the digestive tracts of carpet pythons native to New South Wales. The patient lived near a lake inhabited by carpet pythons, though she had no direct interaction with these reptiles. However, she frequently collected native grasses, including warrigal greens, from the surroundings for culinary purposes. Medical experts speculate that she might have unintentionally consumed worm eggs through contaminated grasses, although the exact cause remains uncertain.

The medical team suggests that the larvae might have traveled to her brain after hatching in her body. Her use of immunosuppressive medication, which weakened her immune system, might have influenced this migration.

"We hypothesized that she inadvertently consumed eggs either directly from the vegetation or indirectly by contamination of her hands or kitchen equipment," the medical team explained.

The ordeal began in 2021 with evolving symptoms, leading to her initial hospitalization in Canberra. However, test results were inconclusive at that point. She was eventually diagnosed with pneumonia of unknown origin and treated with steroids. Her recovery is currently progressing well.