Myiasis caused by Dermatobia hominis: countries with increased risk for travelers going to neotropic areas

Abstract

Here, we review the human botfly (Dermatobia hominis), which belongs to a group of Diptera generically known as "myiasis-causing flies," characterized by the ability of their larvae to develop in animal flesh. In addition to its medical and economic importance, there is an academic interest in this botfly because of its peculiar biology, particularly because a phoretic diptera is needed to complete the life cycle. The larvae penetrate the host's skin, causing furuncle-like lesions that are pruritic, painful, and resemble subcutaneous nodules, producing irreversible perforations in the skin. Although D. hominis is distributed from Mexico to Argentina, a review performed by our working group from 1999 to 2015 determined that the countries with the highest infection rates in travelers are Belize, Bolivia, and Brazil. Interestingly, infected men show a higher variation in the distribution of the lesions than in women. Many treatment schemes have been suggested, including the application of highly dense liquids to the lesion to cause anoxia in the D. hominis larvae. We showed, for the first time, a Bayesian inference between D. hominis and other myiasis-causing flies. The flies grouped into two main clusters according to their capacity to produce facultative and obligatory myiasis, and D. hominis was phylogenetically close to Cuterebra spp.

Miasis Foruncular por Dermatobia Hominis: un diagnóstico emergente en Chile

“…4 En el siguiente artículo se revisa un caso de un paciente de sexo masculino quien posterior a un viaje a la selva boliviana consulta por lesión en cuero cabelludo. Tras estudio con ecografía de partes blandas y biopsia inconcluyentes, finalmente se llegó a la conclusión de que se trataba de un caso de miasis por D. hominis a través del examen macroscópico de la costra.…”

“…4 En el ciclo biológico de la D. hominis la mosca hembra pone sus huevos sobre un mosquito hematófago que captura en el vuelo, al que utiliza como vector. Al picar a un animal de sangre caliente, el mosquito deposita los huevos, de los cuales se desarrollan larvas vermiformes en 5-10 minutos.…”

“…3 La presentación más frecuente de miasis es la miasis foruncular causada por Dermatobia hominis en viajeros hacia América Central y del Sur, y Cordylobia anthropophaga en viajeros a África, las cuales, a través de un vector dejan sus larvas en tejido subcutáneo para su desarrollo y crecimiento. 4 En el siguiente artículo se revisa un caso de un paciente de sexo masculino quien posterior a un viaje a la selva boliviana consulta por lesión en cuero cabelludo. Tras estudio con ecografía de partes blandas y biopsia inconcluyentes, finalmente se llegó a la conclusión de que se trataba de un caso de miasis por D. hominis a través del examen macroscópico de la costra.…”

A Case of Furuncular Myiasis Due to Cordylobia anthropophaga in a Korean Traveler Returning from Uganda

“…Up to 8–12% of travelers with medical problems have skin diseases, of which myiasis is for 7–11% [13]. Although C. anthropophaga and D. hominis is found in Africa and Central and South Americas, respectively, myiasis is continuously recorded throughout the world due to travelers returning from endemic areas.…”

Human myiasis in Ecuador

“…Human myiasis has a worldwide distribution but is more frequently reported from tropical regions, determined by the presence and geographic distribution of different fly species [2]. Ecuador is considered to be endemic for myiasis, particularly that caused by larvae of Dermatobia hominis that produce the furuncular clinical form [3].…”