Answer to Case 634

 Answer toParasite Case of the Week 634: Free-living mite, likely contaminant during specimen collection/preparation.Note the 8 legs (consistent with a member of the arachnidae) and the long spines (setae). It is easier to appreciate all 8 legs by carefully watching the video in this case.As noted by Marc Couturier, " I mite have to say this is a contamination of the preparation and not coming from stool. "  I agree with this assessment! While this mite could have been ingested from a food source (e.g., mimolette cheese;see my previous post), I find it highly unlikely that the mite would still be alive and active after passing through the intestinal tract. I also find the presence of squamous epithelial cells nearby to be rather suspicious for environmental contamination. Thanks again to Dr. Jos é Poloni for donating this interesting case, and to all of the readers who wrote in with their helpful commentary. 
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs