Human case of dracunculiasis in Japan

Dracunculus medinensis was recovered from a 42-year-old man residing in Shizuoka, Japan. Part of an adult female worm was removed from an abscess in the subcutaneous tissue on his right gastrocnemial muscle. The worm's morphology and that of the embryos found in its uterus revealed that the parasite was Dracunculus medinensis. This is the first human case of dracunculiasis acquired in Japan.