Author Institution: Department of Biology, Cedarville College, Cedarville, Ohi

Ramsey, James M.

The Ohio Journal of Science

KnowledgeBank at OSU

No. 2 COLLECTION OF FIELD MATERIALS 61A CASE OP INTESTINAL MYIASIS BY MUSCA DOMESTICAIN A LABORATORY ASSISTANTJ. M. RAMSEYDepartment of Biology, Cedarville College, Cedarville, OhioRecently, infection of the alimentary tract by larvae of Musca domestieawas detected, adding another case of this type to a long list already recordedin the literature. Riley and Johannsen (1938), Herms (1939), and Matheson(1950) report that cases of intestinal infection by maggots of this speciesare numerous, although this phenomenon is far from an everyday occurrence.The victim, doing post-graduate study and serving as laboratory assistant in theDepartment of Biology, suffered constant abdominal pain for three days. Othersymptoms were nausea and irritability. After three days of self-treatment withPepto-Bismol, the patient resorted to purging and after the fourth day, passedwith the purged stool ten or more larvae which appeared non-motile and rathercontracted. The larvae were identified as second instars of Musca domestiea. Insubsequent stools no additional larvae were observed.The mode and source of infection in this case are not known with certaintyalthough two possibilities have been considered. One possibility is that the victim,an avid cigar smoker, may have laid down his cigar with its moist end, somewherein the laboratory, while working. Upon retrieving his cigar later he may haveintroduced fly ova deposited on the damp tip into his mouth. Adding to thispossibility is the fact that the writer has been rearing flies in the laboratory for aresearch project. Occasionally they escape and are seen about the laboratory.The other possibility is that dishes of soft candy in the room of the victim's homemay have stimulated the ovipositing instinct of a female fly.Interestingly enough this is not the first experience of this kind for the victim.He reports that as a serviceman in 1944 on the South Pacific island of Emirauhe passed fly larvae for three days, eventually being hospitalized. These larvaewere large, possibly those of the calliphorid Chrysomya megacephala, a commonform in the South Pacific.REFERENCESHerms, W. B. 1939. Medical entomology. Third ed. Macmillan Co., New York.Matheson, R. 1950. Medical entomology. Second ed. Comstock Pub. Co., Ithaca, N. Y.Riley, W. A., and O. A. Johannsen. 1938. Medical entomology. Second ed. McGraw-HillBook Co., New York.THE OHIO JOURNAL OF SCIENCE 52(2): 61, March, 1952.

A Case of Intestinal Myiasis by Musca Domestica in a Laboratory Assistant

https://kb.osu.edu/bitstream/1811/3905/1/V52N02_061.pdf

A Case of Intestinal Myiasis by Musca Domestica in a Laboratory Assistant

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

KnowledgeBank at OSU