Mystery wound in honeymooner's groin was 'deeply embedded maggot'

At left is the lesion created by a human botfly larva (Dermatobia hominid) in order to breathe. Inside was the deeply embedded maggot with rows of spines to prevent the host from removing it easily. Credit: Mina Shenouda, MD, et al/Journal Investig Med High Case Rep./American Federation for Medical Research/CC by 4.0 less At left is the lesion created by a human botfly larva (Dermatobia hominid) in order to breathe. Inside was the deeply embedded maggot with rows of spines to prevent the host from removing it easily. Credit: ... more Photo: Mina Shenouda, MD, Et Al/Journal Investig Med High Case Rep./American Federation For Medical Research Photo: Mina Shenouda, MD, Et Al/Journal Investig Med High Case Rep./American Federation For Medical Research Image 1 of / 23 Caption Close Mystery wound in honeymooner's groin was 'deeply embedded maggot' 1 / 23 Back to Gallery

A bride who spent her honeymoon in Belize returned to her Florida home with more than just lovely memories of Mayan ruins and crystal-clear Caribbean lagoons.

Little did she know that she had picked up a bug during the trip.

The Journal of Investigative Medicine High Impact Case Reports wrote about the skin-crawling case earlier this month.

The 36-year-old woman didn't notice anything out of the ordinary for two months. But what she thought was a pimple on the left side of her groin began to itch. An insect bite seemed possible, so she went to see her doctor, who thought it was likely a spider had bitten her and the wound had become infected.

But the prescribed antibiotics didn't solve the problem. So she sought a second opinion.

According to LiveScience, Dr. Enrico Camporesi, a specialist in wound healing at Memorial Hospital in Tampa, Fla., found that the skin around the lesion, which was now leaking pus, was hard as if there were a bean or pebble underneath it. He was worried that it could be a lymph node infection, but a surgeon he consulted had a different theory — that the lump was a living creature.

Sure enough, surgery revealed a "deeply embedded maggot" with a tapered shape and rows of spines and hooks.

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It was the larva of a human botfly, an insect common to Central and South America. When human botfly eggs hatch, the tiny larvae can burrow into human skin and make themselves comfortable, feeding on skin tissue and flesh. A hole forms so that the baby insect can breath, expanding as the fly grows.

"In some cases, the patients can feel the larvae moving when they shower or cover the wound," the case study notes.

After 27 to 128 days, the larva drops to the ground where it pupates, eventually maturing into an adult botfly, roughly the size of a bumblebee.

In countries where botflies are common, such infestations are nipped in the bud by smearing petroleum jelly or another substance to block the hole and suffocate the larva.

Naturally, the Florida patient was disturbed to learn a insect was growing under her skin, but following its extraction, her wound healed completely in about a week.