Wernicke's encephalopathy, a serious neurological disorder caused by thiami
ne deficiency, is most commonly found in chronic alcoholics. We present a t
ypical case of Wernicke's encephalopathy in a non-alcoholic man. Our patien
t presented with altered mental status. slurred speech, fever, vomiting and
headache of one-week duration. An infectious etiology of the symptoms was
ruled out by spinal fluid cultures. The patient improved dramatically withi
n 24 hours of administration of thiamine.