THE DISCOVERY OF ANGIOSTRONGYLUS-CANTONENSIS AS A CAUSE OF HUMAN EOSINOPHILIC MENINGITIS

The theoretical and subsequent confirmation in 1961 of the rat lungworm, Angiostrongylus cantonensis, as the causative agent of eosinophilic meningitis is one of the remarkable parasitological findings of the twentieth century. Here, Joseph Alicata briefly summarizes the early history and his epidemiological studies on the relationship between the parasite and the epidemics of encephalitis that swept through Oceania after the Second World War.