Answer to Case 634

 Answer to Parasite 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. José Poloni for donating this interesting case, and to all of the readers who wrote in with their helpful commentary.