Background
The first case of Gnathostoma was identified by Sir Richard Owen when inspecting the stomach of a young tiger that had died at London Zoo from a ruptured aorta. However it was not until 1889 that the first human case was described by Levison when he found the gnathostoma larva in an infested Thai woman. This delay in identification of the parasite in humans is due to the fact that humans are not a definitive host for this parasite making infection from this parasite rare. Gnathostomiasis infection is rare because the parasite must be digested when it has reached its third larvae stage, providing only a short time frame in which the parasite is capable of infecting humans. It is uncommon for the larvae to penetrate the skin of individuals exposed to contaminated food or water without ingestion.
Read more about this topic: Gnathostomiasis
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