Botfly Removal

Botflies belong to the Oestridae family and their larvae infest mammals, becoming internal parasites, which grow inside the flesh of their hosts. The word ‘bot’ is commonly used to describe the maggot that keeps growing and which, if buried deep enough, has the potential of causing serious damage. Known as Dermatobia Hominis by its scientific name, the human botfly is among the few fly species the larvae of which parasitize humans. Their eggs are vectored by more than forty species of muscoid flies and mosquitoes

Alan Evans Alan Evans awoke with excruciating pain in his leg, days after visiting Gambia in May, 2008. The 50-year-old had been bitten several times by mosquitoes during his two-week-long holiday, but did not notice anything unusual at the time. After he came back, Evans was feeling weak, like something was draining his energy out. The holidaymaker also felt like somebody was stabbing him in the leg “with a dagger”. Initially, the doctors diagnosed him with a tropical infection, and prescribed him antibiotics. The 50-year-old went home and began the treatment, but days later, the so called infection got worse. He looked at his mosquito bites and was petrified to notice that something was moving under his skin. Evans poked the wound, and it bounced back

Bryan Williams and Ally Vagg Ally Vagg and her boyfriend Bryan Williams were enjoying a trip to the Amazon Basin in January 2013. The Australian couple was vacationing in Bolivia, when they both felt slight irritations on their skin. They did not pay attention to any symptoms, as they thought they were experiencing itchiness from the mosquito bites. However, days later, Vagg and Williams both felt something squirming under their skin. They watched in horror as, at times, larvae were poking their heads out of some of the open wounds. They rushed to a local One of the most common consequences of Dermatobia Hominis infestation is the development of an affliction called myasis. The larvae may parasitize various areas of the human body. Their entry points may be unbroken skin, open wounds or lesions, the nose or the ears. If they are swallowed gastric or internal myasis becomes a possible occurrence. The types of myasis vary depending on the part of the body that is infested. The most common form of this affliction, developed upon human botfly infestation, is cutaneous myasis, which manifests itself through furuncles (fur-uncle) or ulcers which appear as swollen regions on the patient’s body. Other types include nasal myasis, which can cause fever, facial edema, severe irritation and obstruction of the nasal passages, myasis of the human eye or ophthalmomyasis which can cause retinal detachment or glaucoma and aural myasis which, if located in the middle ear, has the danger

Aaron Dallas When the doctors first examined the strange swollen area on Aaron Dallas’ head they had several theories. One of them was that he had been bitten by a gnat while another entertained the possibilities that he had contracted shingles, a painful skin rash brought about by the varicella zoster virus. The doctors were shocked when they saw the bumps starting to move. They soon discovered that the man had five botfly larvae living inside the skin near the top of his skull. Aaron The best course of action in dealing with a botfly infestation is contacting a medical professional in order to have the larva removed. For many of those unfamiliar with the issue seeing the maggots starting to squirm under the skin can often cause panic, which would the lead to an immediate attempt to remove it. If it is not executed properly and the larvae is not removed in its entirety the attempt may leave the patient vulnerable to a secondary infection which may prove to be a greater health risk if not treated with antibiotics. Even though the idea of a human botfly infestation may sound like a gruesome scenario the fact that the larvae still needs to breathe through a surface point offers several treatment options. Applying petroleum jelly over the entry point’s surface will cut off the larvae’s air supply

Piotr Naskrecki Most people would dread the very idea of a botfly infection. However, Piotr Naskrecki, an entomologist from the Harvard University in the United States, allowed two human botfly larvae to grow inside his skin for scientific purposes. After he had returned from a trip to Belize, Naskrecki noticed that the mosquito bites he had contracted during his trip were not healing. He soon realized that he had botfly larvae living inside his skin. He had one of the larvae removed with a suction device but then decided to commence an experiment