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Case #304 – July, 2011

The DPDx Team received images from a hospital in the Netherlands for diagnostic assistance to identify an arthropod. The arthropods were presented to the hospital by a lady who found them under her mattress. She complained of being bitten during the night and wanted to know if the organisms of interest were responsible for the bites and if there was any public health importance associated with them. Figures AC show dorsal, ventral and lateral shots of the arthropod, respectively. Figure D shows a close-up of the mouthparts. What is your identification? Based on what criteria? What, if any, is the public health importance of this organism?

Figure A

Figure B

Figure C

Figure D

This case and images were kindly provided by the Laboratory for Parasitology, Erasmus University Medical Center and Rotterdam Harbor Hospital, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Images presented in the DPDx case studies are from specimens submitted for diagnosis or archiving. On rare occasions, clinical histories given may be partly fictitious.

DPDx is an educational resource designed for health professionals and laboratory scientists. For an overview including prevention, control, and treatment visit www.cdc.gov/parasites/.