Case of the Week 607
This week's case was donated by my colleague, Dr. Tom Grys. Tom and I did our Clinical Microbiology fellowship together and had a lot of fun!
The following specimen was brought in by a patient after finding it near his eye upon awakening. He is concerned that it might be an ectoparasite or vector of human pathogens, and is hoping that the laboratory can provide this information. What is your identification, and how would you counsel the patient or patient's clinician?
Read Dr. Pritt's blog, Parasite Wonders, and submit your answers, comments, and questions. Also, visit her website ParasiteWonders.com, which hosts an archive of classic images from cases Dr. Pritt posted going back to 2007 (in an easy-to-search "A through Z" format) and also offers a flashcard feature.



Answer to Case 607:
Beetle, not a human parasite.