placenta does not belong in your hair

10th April 2009

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Ben just saw a raccoon on our block this week (I know! Chickens, bats, raccoons - Brooklyn is a jungle out here people) and now this:

Please note:

• Two cases of Baylisascaris procyonis (B. procyonis or raccoon roundworm) infection have been identified in children from Brooklyn, both with serious sequelae:
o An infant with eosinophilic meningoencep halitis from neural larva migrans resulting in severe permanent brain damage, and
o A teenager with ocular larva migrans resulting in loss of vision in one eye.
• The New York City (NYC) Health Department asks providers to consider and test for baylisascariasis in patients presenting with encephalopathy with peripheral eosinophilia or a CSF eosinophilic pleocytosis, ocular larva migrans, diffuse unilateral subacute neuroretinitis (DUSN) or eosinophilic pseudotumor;
• Suspected cases should be reported immediately to the NYC Health Department for consultation and diagnostic assistance at 212-788-9830 during business hours or the Poison Control Center at 212-764-7667 after hours and on weekends.

If eosinophilic meningoencep halitis from neural larva migrans isn’t the scariest thing ever, then I give up.