A horse and a zebra: an atypical clinical picture including Guillain-Barré syndrome, recurrent fever and mesenteric lymphadenopathy caused by two concomitant infections

BACKGROUND: While Campylobacter jejuni represents the most common cause of bacterial gastroenteritis, Yersinia pseudotuberculosis infections are very rarely diagnosed in adults. CASE: We report on a previously healthy patient who presented several times at our hospital with fever, Guillain-Barré syndrome, recurrent abdominal symptoms and distinct mesenteric lymphadenopathy, respectively. This complicated and diagnostically challenging course of disease was caused by a C. jejuni and Y. pseudotuberculosis coinfection. Antibiotic treatment with doxycycline was effective. CONCLUSION: Broad serology testing was crucial to discover that two concomitant infections were causing the symptoms. This case demonstrates that when a clinical picture is not fully explained by one known infection, another infection with the same underlying risk factor has to be considered, hence “a horse and a zebra”. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s15010-020-01397-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.