Imagine you go on a vacation in the tropics. You do some sightseeing, maybe zip-lining through the treetops, relax on a lazy river through the jungle on an inner tube… Or if that’s not your cup of tea, how about an African safari? You ride on a jeep-led tour as you snap photographs of elephants, antelope, giraffes… Maybe you’re lucky enough to spot a rare cheetah or a lazy lion. Now you get back from your eventful and exciting vacation, and you feel refreshed and relaxed. Then maybe in a few days to a week, you notice some red bumps on your skin. Funny, those weren’t there before. They become itchy, maybe painful, but you hope they’ll go away. But no, they persist. You go to the doctor; they don’t know what it is. But it’s okay. A couple red bumps. It’s not life threatening, maybe painful, but you can function. But of course, you just want the pain and the associated bumps to go away.
This can be a common scenario, and in fact, happened to a family friend. Her family took a vacation in Belize, and she returned to have three red bumps on her scalp. Her son also had one. Those bumps, larger than a mosquito bite, were still small, but painful. She got piercing headaches. Attending the physician yielded no diagnosis, even when she mentioned she returned from Belize.
It was her husband that researched the mysterious red bumps on the internet to diagnose her. It was botfly larva nestled inside of her skin. Luckily, the larvae are not horribly dangerous, merely painful. He coated the protrusions with Vaseline, and a day later, used tweezers on the revealed antenna to pull the growing larva out. The Vaseline covers the pore so that the larvae are suffocated beneath the skin.
So how do these larvae end up on humans? The adult flies are free-living (ie. do not live burrowed in our skin) and lay their eggs anywhere from bed spreads or clothing to mosquitoes. When humans come into contact with the eggs, the larvae are transferred to the warm body and burrow beneath the skin. In some cases, the botfly can lay eggs directly on the humans.
When a human is infested with some species of fly (botfly are the usual culprits in infesting humans), it is called myiasis. Unlike lice which nestle in our hair, myiasis is actually a burrowed maggot of some fly species, usually the botfly, but potentially others. Scabies, a highly contagious mite, also burrows, but infests via contact with mites, rather than larvae. In addition, in scabies, you see more of a rash pattern rather than few or singular protrusions as in myiasis. The botfly larvae can burrow in any skin, sometimes in the soles of the feet if one is barefoot and comes into contact in eggs within the soil.
Of course, I imagine the number one question would be how to avoid becoming infested with botfly larvae. I also vacated to Belize a couple of years ago and everyone in my group was botfly-free. Insect repellent is a must when travelling to tropical regions (and even non-tropical regions). Be sure to check the local insects and be aware of what is out there and potential diseases. Don't go barefoot. (Botfly eggs are not the only potential parasites lurking in the soil!) And lastly, don't leave clothing outside, like a hat, and then wear it. You never know what might be on it.
With every parasite, avoidance is a matter of knowing how the parasite transmits and eliminating those pathways to protect yourself. Safe travels!
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