Bot Fly larva. Has anyone ever heard of this? (Warning: disturbing)

[Maddy McCall]

I was poking around on the internet last night when I came across a condition called Human Bot Fly warble. Bot flies live in central and South America. They lay their eggs on the legs of mosquitoes, and then the mosquito bites a human and deposits the eggs in the human flesh.

So, here's typically what happens: You go to South America, and you get bit by a mosquito. You don't think anything of it until two weeks later, after you return home, and the larva starts to grow inside you, causing a red, inflamed place on your skin. You go to the doctor; he doesn't know what it is, but diagnoses it as a cyst, and puts you on antibiotics. Another week goes by, the larva begins to squirm around, and you can't take the pain, so you go to another doctor, who decides to lance the cyst, only to find a 1/4" diameter by 1" long larva inside your "cyst." Your doc nearly passes out as he removes the foreign object from your body. You, however, are relieved to have the painful little bugger out of your body.


And here's an excellent website to read other people's stories:

http://www.vexman.com/stories.htm

[ret5hd]

1. just put hamburger on it...

the larvae prefer bovine flesh to human and will crawl out of you into the hamburger.

gross but no big deal.

[SarahB]

2. I've heard of it.

I had quite an interesting lesson in infectious parasites in a microbiology class a few months back. It's less gross than Guinea worms though. :scared:

[Maddy McCall]

6. Ooooo. Tell me more about Guinea worms.

If it's more gross than bot flies, it must be bad. :-)

[SarahB]

8. more....

source: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/dracunculiasis/factsht_dracunculiasis.htm

How does Guinea worm disease spread?

Adult female Dracunculus worms emerge from the skin of Infected persons annually. Persons with worms protruding through the skin may enter sources of drinking water and unwittingly allow the worm to release larvae into the water. These larvae are ingested by fresh water copepods ("water fleas") where these develop into the infective stage in 10-14 days. Persons become infected by drinking water containing the water fleas harboring the infective stage larvae of Dracunculus medinensis.

Once inside the body, the stomach acid digests the water flea, but not the Guinea worm. These larvae find their way to the small intestine, where they penetrate the wall of the intestine and pass into the body cavity. During the next 10-14 months, the female Guinea worm grows to a full size adult 60-100 centimeters (2-3 feet) long and as wide as a cooked spaghetti noodle, and migrates to the site where she will emerge, usually the lower limbs.

A blister develops on the skin at the site where the worm will emerge. This blister causes a very painful burning sensation and it will eventually (within 24-72 hours) rupture. For relief, persons will immerse the affected limb into water, or may just walk in to fetch water. When someone with a Guinea worm ulcer enters the water, the adult female releases a milky white liquid containing millions of immature larvae into the water, thus contaminating the water supply. For several days after it has emerged from the ulcer, the female Guinea worm is capable of releasing more larvae whenever it comes in contact with water.

p.s.
It was an enjoyable class as I developed a bit of a crush on my professor. I seem to have this odd biologist fetish. Strange. :)

[Maddy McCall]

10. My first crush was on my eighth grade biology teacher.

There's something sexy about a man discussing gross things. :7

[GreenPartyVoter]

3. Dunno bout that, but I had scabies once.

[BurtWorm]

4. You mean you CAN'T start a thread about Fat Actress

but you CAN start a thread about this?

:wtf:













;)

[Maddy McCall]

5. Well, I intend to tie it to Fat Actress in just a few.

Just kidding.

:hi:

[goodboy]

7. still not as bad as those parasites that live in S. America that swim up

your wee-wee if you pee in the water.

[ret5hd]

9. that's a catfish not a parasite

still real bad tho.

[goodboy]

14. hmm...Must be a really small one..

[ret5hd]

15. correct...about an inch or less long...

and uses the fins that are close to the head to keep from being forced back out (OUCH!).

now ya now why the indiginous people wore banana leaves.

[DemBones DemBones]

11. Dracunculus medinensis (guinea worms) are a favorite with parasitology

students. Also called the fiery serpent and the dragon of Medina, this filarial (threadlike) worm gets into the human body through drinking water that contains an immature, microscopic, stage of the parasite. Once grown to maturity, which, as best I recall, is about 14 feet in length, an adult female worm migrates to the victim's leg when she's ready to lay eggs. A bleb forms on the leg. Once the person gets into water, the bleb opens and allows the female worm to stick her tail end out into the water, the better to lay eggs. People have known since ancient times that this was the time to act, by grabbing the worm and wrapping it around a small stick. After that, day by day, you turn the stick a little, carefully pulling a bit more worm out of the body. It's been argued that this is what the caduceus represents.

Anyway, having Dracunculus medinensis tends to block the lymphatic channels and cause grotesque swellings of the legs and feet or, sometimes, of the scrotum. Parasitology texts always have a few photos but my professor was a malariologist with WHO and CDC before he taught college so he had even more pictures of amazing deformities.

All that's needed for prevention is to filter the drinking water through a sieve but it cultures where people drink water from the step wells or ponds where they bathe, it's difficult to convince them that an invisible something in the drinking water causes the huge worm in their body.

***

Bots are common in animals in this country -- farmers have to treat horses and cattle to prevent bots. Squirrels, deer, and other animals get them, too. I've seen lizards with bots, probably anything can get them. They're just nasty, don't have the dramatic panache of Dracunculus medinensis.

[blindpig]

12. I've extracted quite a few bot fly larva

from the heads of box turtles. Nasty business, and just because the turtle's head is obscenely swollen doesn't necessarily mean that bot fly is the cause.

My bud once claimed that he had a bot fly larva in his head and used that as an excuse to dodge various things at college(a biology major). He was the laughing stock of the biology faculity. Turned out he was afflicted with an absessed wisdom tooth!

[Worst Username Ever]

13. My buddy's wife got back from the Peace Corps and she could

pull little worms right out of her skin. I saw her take what appeared to be a little nub by her cuticle and pull it out... it was about half and inch long worm-thing. Gross. Really.

[CatBoreal]

16. Whats the one...

...that comes out of the skin, and the worm is eventually long enough to be wrapped around a small stick. The infected person then turns the stick once a day (any more than that and the worm snaps in two) until it's all removed?

Been a while since my invertebrate biology class.

[texas1928]

17. well I was hungry, but now.

not so much.

[redqueen]

18. Yes I've heard of it... seen shows about it.

Nasty, nasty little buggers.

[Lisa]

19. yes -- I extracted one from a live rabbit ...

... when I worked at a vet clinic years ago.


Two of us, a pre-vet student and me (casual volunteer) were assigned to examine a rabbit that had been brought in. I found the larva's breathing hole (a neat little puncture under the bunny's chin), and a slight swelling under the skin which concealed the larva. The student missed it -- so as a treat (!) the vet on duty invited me to help extract the larva. The student, gagging, went for the tweezers -- but the vet explained that they might crush or cut the larva (which would be holding on for dear life with its barbed body). She dabbed a bit of Vaseline onto the hole -- after a few minutes, the larva was unable to breathe, and partially emerged -- and we were able to pull it out the rest of the way. It was almost as big around as my little finger. The vet said the weirdest case she'd seen was one of those things under a hamster's skin! Must have been quite the bulge.

An entomologist friend claims one of his colleagues kept one in his own leg for almost 2 weeks, as an experiment -- apparently it didn't hurt much (the insect excretes some kind of chemical that deadens the nerves, so the host doesn't feel so much pain that it tries to tear the creature out). Also, the larva keeps the hole clean so it tends not to get infected (don't want to kill the host). So if I had to have a hole punched in my skin, the warblefly would be a better choice than a gunshot wound ... but still! Ick! (After hearing about this, my friend and his wife, who was also an entomologist, used to tease each other ... "is that a warble, or are you just glad to see me?")

[livinginphotographs]

20. Isn't there a snail in Africa that burrows its way out of your stomach?

My dad used to tell me about those to keep me from drinking creek water when I was a kid. Just wondered if it was true or not, or if I'm just that gullible.

[Liberal Veteran]

21. Yeah...I helped my grandmother remove something like it from a kitten.

And it was nasty as hell.

I think I puked for a solid hour afterwards.