Answer to Case 796

Answer to the Parasite Case of the Week 796: Fly larvae; clinical correlation is recommended.

As many of you noted, there are two main possibilities for this finding:

1. This is a case of aural myiasis, in which a fly laid eggs onto the patient's ear - likely in the setting of a pre-existing skin/soft tissue infection.

2. This represents contamination of the culture plate, in which the fly laid eggs on the specimen after it was collected.

In this case, examination of the patient revealed no evidence of aural myiasis, and therefore #2 is the most likely explanation.

We had a similar case of "agarmyiasis" back in 2018. I encourage you to check out the interesting comments and discussion. 

Thanks again to Richard Bradbury for donating this great case!