October 23rd, 2006 by GoldenAppleCorp
This is kind of a disgusting post, with links to really gross stuff. If you don’t like gross stuff, go here!
I have two classes with a very funny girl named Kathy. Kathy is Polish, but grew up in Germany, so to the untrained ear, she sounds Russian. Exactly like Molotov Cocktease, actually. One day I will get her to say “Brock Sampson”.
But I digress.
Kathy came into class a few weeks ago talking about a nasty-as-fuck problem her husband was having. He woke up one morning with a large bump on his arm. It was bright red, with a good-sized hole in the center. So they did what any of us would do: they squeezed the crap out of it.
Pus seeped out and something could be seen behind the hole. So she broke out the tweezers. After what I can only assume was copius amounts of husbandly cussing, she pulled out a yellow sack-like thing. They threw the sack-like thing away, but took pictures of it for posterity’s sake.
Because it’s always good to know what you pull out of your body, her husband went to see his doc. After looking at the pictures, she admitted she didn’t know what it was. So she took the pictures to a colleague.
The colleague knew. It was a dermatobia hominis, aka human botfly.
Human botflies are typically found in Central & South 
America. The female botfly catches a mosquito and lays her eggs on it. When the mosquito lands on its victim, the egg(s) fall off onto the host and hatches. The maggot burrows under the skin where it lives and feasts on flesh. After about 8 weeks, it squirms out and goes off in search of a mate.
They grow up so fast!
The doctors said it’s not unheard of for someone to be a botfly host so far north, but it is extremely unusual. I guess he was just one lucky s.o.b.
Kathy got a kick out of telling this story to absolutely everyone at school. Kind of like how I’m enjoying grossing you all out now. :)
October 23rd, 2006 at 7:36 pm
Hellova nice picture GAC. Yeah the ole boy was lucky huh…like winning a lottery.
October 23rd, 2006 at 7:46 pm
Dude, there were waaaay worse pictures I could have used. One case study of a larvae being extracted from an eye, for example.
October 23rd, 2006 at 8:05 pm
No, this one is fine…thanks.
October 23rd, 2006 at 8:46 pm
Fascinating.
October 23rd, 2006 at 8:50 pm
I’ll be sure to read this one again before breakfast in the morning. Thanks!
October 24th, 2006 at 7:39 am
I itched so bad after writing that post, I had to take a bath.
Ugh.
Joel’s right, though. As nasty as that sort of stuff is, I find it incredibly fascinating.
October 24th, 2006 at 10:12 am
Wait, the doctor *admitted* not knowing something?
Wow. That was an accomplishment all in itself.
October 24th, 2006 at 11:42 am
Ha!!! I knew the diagnosis! 3.5 years of vet school and 60K in debt later I know something an MD didn’t. You know, real doctors treat more than one species. . .
October 24th, 2006 at 12:03 pm
You’re both off base. The man isn’t an MD, he is a PhD. Glad you got a chuckle though.
October 24th, 2006 at 2:52 pm
Well, the the doctor’s defense, she’s a back-woods family doc outside of Kingston. She’s been Kathy’s husband’s doctor since he was a babe. Also, she suspected it was some sort of insect, just not what kind.
SuperT, apparently horse botflies can be a real problem. Any of your horses ever have any?
October 24th, 2006 at 3:00 pm
Oops. I was off base. Sorry.
October 24th, 2006 at 9:03 pm
Ah, horse botflies. Those little bastards lay these tiny little white eggs on the horses hair, the horse licks them off, swallows them, where they hatch into larvae in the stomach and attach themselves to the stomach wall and grow into big plump larvae. Actually found some on a necropsy this afternoon on a 29 year old quarter horse. Doesn’t usually cause them any problems. Jesus, I’m sorry for rambling about that. I’m sure everyone is bored to tears. I do have an ambundance of weird facts crammed into my head right now since I’m studying for my board exam. Sorry.
October 25th, 2006 at 9:00 am
Personally, T, I find that kind of stuff icky but interesting.
How long do horses typically live, anyway? 29 seems old.
October 25th, 2006 at 1:14 pm
I agree with GAC, SuperT. As much as the botfly photo creeps me out, the whole thing is pretty fascinating.
October 26th, 2006 at 12:50 am
Grrrroooosss. Lots.
And I thought cysts were bad…
November 22nd, 2006 at 12:47 pm
I am from Central New York and have seen that totally gross thing in many cats necks. It is so gross and if you don’t it out in time or get it all it will surely kill the cat. GROSS!!!!!