I have seen many “zebras” in my career (I am so known for them that other doctors say they would be afraid to send family members to me as I would probably find something unusual). The meaning of the term “zebra” – “If you hear hoofbeats, look for horses”. A zebra is something unexpected. I can’t reveal most of them due to confidentiality issues, but I did find a case of Hansen’s disease (leprosy) in 1996 (unusual in the USA, and one of 4 new cases that year in California.
I have removed 3 bot fly larvae from someone’s scalp (see picture) recently, and someone once brought in worm they had “passed” – diphilobotrium lattum (broadfish tapeworm). It was about 3 or 4 feet long, looked like a long piece of linguine (same color, similar width), except if you looked a little carefully, it was actually comprised of connected rhomboid like sections. I found that particularly interesting because it was close to the longest name I had to remember in medical school – so my medical school chums and I would joke about this particular worm to remember it.