Recognize the Signs
Recognizing the Symptoms
When it comes to recognizing that the myiasis has already begun, there isn’t much to do except pay close attention before getting medical help. Knowing the signs and symptoms could save you or your pets plenty of discomfort, pain, and suffering.
1. Look for any small lumps or bumps that won’t heal
Once the larvae are in the skin, they will leave reddish bumps or even tiny holes. Depending on the larvae, you may even see something white (a part of their body) sticking out. If these bumps are occurring in patches, you may have found the problem. On a human, it could look like a single red boil that won’t go away. In pets, check to see if they are scratching a specific spot or showing some irritation on their skin.
2. Discomfort or changes in behavior
The scary thing about your pet experiencing myiasis is that they cannot immediately communicate to you that something is wrong. Even worse, during the early stages of the infestation, your pet may not even feel pain or discomfort, so you might not be aware about any problem until the larvae have gotten bigger and are causing more pain. If your pet appears to be experiencing pain or scratching an area of their body irregularly, check the skin for any signs. Regularly screen your pets’ fur and skin to look for anything out of the ordinary.
Getting Treatment
Finally, there are a few things you can do if you’ve detected what appears to be a myiasis.
1. Seek medical attention
Whether it’s in a person or an animal, the smartest course of action is to take the problem to a medical expert. As you saw in the video above, an extensive infestation can be a particularly gruesome condition to treat, and it’s certainly not for the faint of heart. Only a medical expert can make sure to clean out the entire infestation while also ensuring the skin remains clean and safe from any resulting infection.
2. Vaseline
If you want to treat the myiasis without turning to incision or even surgery, one easy solution is to cover the entire affected area with petroleum jelly. The key here is to cover the tiny hole in the skin that the maggot uses to breathe, which will cut off its oxygen supply and force the maggot to come to the surface, where it can be readily extracted.
3. The old fashioned squeeze
By far the most hands-on approach, this also might be the fastest and simplest way to remove any maggot infestation. It is advised that you first widen the air holes the maggots use before attempting to squeeze them out, and that you do not continue to do so if the procedure is too painful. You must be extra careful not to crush or squish the maggots before removing them as any matter left inside your skin could lead to an infection or bigger health issues.
Which would you choose?
Parasites
Since life first began, parasites have existed. Coming in many forms and having learned to survive in many ways, parasites are incredibly diverse, but they have one thing in common: the uncanny ability to infiltrate a host’s body or home in order to reproduce or survive. Even when it comes to large mammals—including those who consider themselves the top of the food chain—parasites are no different. While modern medicine and good hygiene can do a great deal in preventing any kind of parasitic infestation, there’s always a chance that humans can still succumb to these often unpleasant organisms. And while it might just be a virus that you will never see but rather feel for a day or several, other parasites are much larger and more nightmarish.
The mango fly, or Cordylobia anthropophaga, has many names: tumbu fly, putzi fly, or skin maggot fly, to name a few. Perhaps the last one in that brief list leaves the least to the imagination and gives the most clear warning about just how troublesome this parasite can be. First described in their parasitic larvae form in 1862, mango flies are common in subtropical Africa. Their binomial name comes from the Greek word anthropophagos or “human eater.”