Free-Living Amoebae Recovered from Human Stool Samples in Strongyloides Agar Culture

[Extract] Our laboratory in The Gambia, West Africa, performs Koga agar (1.5% bacteriological agar, 0.5% sodium chloride, 0.5% meat extract, 0.1% bacteriological peptone) culture for larvae of strongyle nematodes on human fecal samples for which parasitological investigation has been requested. We have recovered free-living amoebae (FLA) from human fecal specimens on two occasions over a period of 9 months (representing 130 individual fecal cultures) on this agar (Fig. 1). The amoebae in both cases were identified as Hartmannella species based upon the morphology of trophozoites and cysts in agar culture (Fig. 2) and their inability to enflagellate in distilled water after 8 h of incubation at 37°C.