Japanese Doctors Pull Out 1.5-Inch Worm From Woman’s Tonsils After Eating Sashimi

Doctors at St. Luke’s International Hospital in Tokyo pulled out a 1.5 inch (38 millimeter) worm from a woman’s tonsils after she complained of a sore throat after eating sashimi.

The discovery: The shocking incident happened earlier this year but was only reported and published at the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene on July 8, according to the New York Post.

The unidentified 25-year-old woman reportedly went to the hospital after suffering from pain and irritation in her tonsils.
She had been suffering for five days right after eating an “assorted sashimi” meal.
During a simple examination, doctors found a black worm moving in her left palatine tonsil, which was determined by the doctors to be a Pseudoterranova azarasi, with the sushi as the cause.
The woman’s condition rapidly improved after doctors removed the parasite, which measured 38 millimeters (1.5 inches) long and one millimeter wide, from her tonsil using tweezers.
Doctors also determined that the worm “was a fourth-stage larva of Pseudoterranova azarasi.”

Image via American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

Symptoms of infection: Pseudoterranova azarasi is a type of parasitic roundworm from the Anisakidae family that typically infects the stomach and, on rare occasions, it can also infect the throat.

Infection usually occurs after eating third-stage larvae found in raw and/or undercooked fish.
Throat Pseudoterranova infection causes sore throat, cough and “tingling throat syndrome.”
Gastric infection, however, leads to abdominal discomfort and would require endoscopy for removal.

Feature Image via American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

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