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. 1990 Dec;28(12):2750–2756. doi: 10.1128/jcm.28.12.2750-2756.1990

Leptomyxid ameba, a new agent of amebic meningoencephalitis in humans and animals.

G S Visvesvara 1, A J Martinez 1, F L Schuster 1, G J Leitch 1, S V Wallace 1, T K Sawyer 1, M Anderson 1
PMCID: PMC268267  PMID: 2280005

Abstract

Amebae belonging to the order Leptomyxida are regarded as innocuous soil organisms incapable of infecting mammals. We report here the isolation of a leptomyxid ameba from the brain of a pregnant baboon (Papio sphinx) that died of meningoencephalitis at the San Diego Zoo Wild Animal Park. By using rabbit anti-leptomyxid serum in the immunofluorescence assay, we have identified the leptomyxid ameba in the brain sections of a number of human encephalitic cases from around the world as well as a few cases of meningoencephalitis in animals in the United States, which suggests that the leptomyxid amebae are potential etiologic agents of fatal meningoencephalitis in humans and animals.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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