This week's case is by Idzi Potters and the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp. The following object was removed from a furuncular skin lesion in a patient with recent travel to Uganda. Once they were able to keep it still (!), Idzi captured the following photographs demonstrating all of the diagnostic features. What is your identification?
7 comments:
Fly maggot/larvae
Myiasis
Chia-Yu Chiu
Thank you Idzi for another great case! The mango fly aka Tumbu fly lay eggs on human clothing hung to dry in the sun. The Man Eating larvae hatching eats its way into the skin of its prey. The three sinuous slits are definite identification clues. Ironing the clothes dried outdoor kills the eggs and prevent a myasis infection.
The video clearly exemplifies the voracious nature of The Beast.
Florida Fan
Cordylobia anthropophaga
Dermatobia hominis larvae
Agree with Cordylobia anthropophaga (tumbu fly)
Larva of Cordylobia anthropophaga (tumbu fly)
Based on:
- the travel history (tropical regions of Africa, south of the Sahara
- distribution of spines throughout the body of the larva
- three well defined posterior sinuous spiracles, with a lack of peritreme
And I know this because...we recently had a case in our lab within the UK! We referred it to a more specialised lab, but came to the same conclusion that they did. Funnily enough, the guide I used to identify (which was very helpful!) was co-authored by Dr Pritt.
In our case, clinicians used vaseline to cover the area of entry which causes suffocation of the larva, prompting it to exit the wound.
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