A 35-year-old plumber arrived at hospital with vomiting, confusion, right-sided weakness and dysplasia, and doctors initially diagnosed ischaemic stroke due to infective endocarditis 

But following numerous tests, the man was eventually discovered to have what is believed to be the first reported case in Australia or New Zealand of infective endocarditis due to Whipple disease. 

This rare bacterial illness is caused by infection with Tropheryma whipplei bacteria, found in the general environment and sewerage, as well as in stools from healthy individuals. 

Affecting mainly middle-aged men, the classic symptoms of Whipple disease are weight loss, abdominal discomfort, diarrhoea, malabsorption and arthralgia.