BOTFLY EMAIL STORIES RECEIVED BETWEEN 2001 AND 2005
MORE STORIES ON ANOTHER PAGE (SEE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE).

Here is a song about botfly larva, the title is 
"A VERY UNLIKELY OCCURRENCE"
Just click on the title above or in the below email sent to me April 26, 2004 from Damien Di Fede.
Be sure to follow along with the lyrics (that are provided below) while listening to the song.
Thanks Heather and Damien!

Dr. Higley,
We had a very bad....interesting experience with botflys. Thanks to your website we were able to find out more information on them. I have created a website telling about the experience. On the our site is the address of your site & a photo from your page. I am hoping after you look at it that you will be please & allow it to stay on our site. If not please let me know & I will remove it. You can see this page by going to www.vexman.com & clicking on botfly story. It's very ironic that both men that were bitten by a botfly happen to be named Mark!
Hope to hear from you in regards to our botfly story.
Thanks,
Brenda Johnstone

Brenda-

I seem to get lots of bot fly stories since I posted the website, but your story certainly trumps all that I've heard before. The photo actually belongs to Jim Kalisch, a technologist in our department, but I'm sure Jim will have no objection to your use of the photo (I'll check with him this afternoon). I'm surprised by the frequency with which infestations are misdiagnosed. The photos you have show a fully developed (third stage) larva; those I've seen were only second stage. If there is any chance we could get copies of these photos, I'd like to post them on our site (I'm supposed to do a large web site on bot flies, but I don't suppose that will get started until this summer) and they would be great for teaching. Perhaps I need to contact Dr. Higgs about this, so if you have his address (e-mail or otherwise) I'd appreciate it. I have a variety of stories that people have supplied on torsalo infestations, but Mark's scrotal infestation certainly is unique. Mark might want to know that most people seem to start freaking out with second stage larval feeding, so I'm not surprised he had such a miserable time with third stage larvae. I hope he is doing better now, and I appreciate your/his willingness to share his experience.

-Leon Higley

We too visited Arenal in CR this June. Upon return, my 8 year old
daughter kept complaining about shooting pains periodically coming from
two "mosquito bites" on her head. The pediatrician confidently diagnosed
it as impetigo and put her on anti-biotics. After 10 days and no results
- stronger AB's. After 4 days and no results - off to the dermatologist.
Dr. Skin can't figure it out so she decides to do a biopsy. Much to her
surprise - it's a maggot!. Congratulations! you have given birth to twin
5 week old botfly larvae! The dermatologists office thought this was the
coolest thing since alligator shoes. Found your story on the net after
scraping Mom up off the floor. Thanks for sharing your experience! It
does make for good gross-out story telling...

Bryan Edwards
Mandeville, Louisiana

Wow, that's quite a story...I must say, I never thought I would hear one
better than mine, but you win. Congratulations :) I just feel compelled to
share my story with you because, if anyone else, you'll be able to sympathize.

I went to Belize this summer with my father for a scuba trip. We dove every
day except for one : the last day, where we went and hiked through the
Mayan jungle and then went cave tubing. While in the jungle, I happened to
get a couple of mosquito bites on my leg, which I thought nothing of. Two
weeks after arriving back home, they were still there, itchy and painful as
ever, so I went to the doctor. I had previously heard something about
botflies, but didn't really think it was possible. So when I went in to see
the doctor, he told me it was just an infected mosquito bite, nothing more.
After I told him what I knew about botflies (although I didn't know the
name at the time), he decided that they would lance the largest one and
drain it (because, according to him, I was overreacting). No more than two
minutes after they had opened the bite, they pulled out a little wriggling
botfly. Now, of course, they had no idea what it was, so both the doctor
and the physicians assistant flipped out and called the CDC....so then they
opened the second bite, but didn't find anything. After all that, they
glued my leg back together and gave me some medicine.

A month later, the second bite they had opened wasn't healing at all (the
first one healed and there's barely a scar), so I went back to the doctor.
They opened it up again, this time digging all the way down to the muscle,
and still didn't find anything. They sewed my leg up again, gave me more
drugs, and sent me on my way. A week later, I came back to have my stitches
removed, and it still wasn't healed, so he began talking about simply
removing all of the tissue that next week. Two days after that appointment,
I was looking at the wound and it appeared to be moving! I thought I was
going crazy, and I showed it to a lady at work who used to be a nurse. She
told me it was probably just pus trying to work its way out, so I shouldn't
worry. Later that day, I would push on it a bit and this big long white
thing would come out of it.

Now, by this time, I was getting pretty sick of having bugs in my leg, so I
called the doctor immediately and told him what was up....he made me come
in that afternoon. I showed him the thing and he said "Its a maggot, we
have to get that out of there". So they pulled out this 1.5 inch botfly
maggot, and sent me home. The very next day, I bent down to pull off my
Band-Aid, when another maggot fell off on my hand. I called my neighbor, who
is a plastic surgeon, and he came over to look at it. After inspecting it,
he decided we needed to go to the emergency room and take out all of the
tissue in the area. So now, because of a great trip to Belize, I'm left
with 2 very purple scars on my leg :) I'm just glad to know that I'm not
the only freak this happens to!
Lindsay

I want to thank you for placing your account with the bot fly
infestation on the internet.  My husband and I traveled in late
September-early October to Belize.  Not too long after our return, I
noticed a lump on the top of his head and asked him if he had hit his
head or something.  He teased me for my violent ways, said it was
probably a pulled hair, and said it would go away.  Well, it didn't
and it was sore and oozing fluid.  Like any good wife, I demanded
that he see a doctor before I became a widow (I was irrationally
thinking it was some form of cancer at that point).  The first doctor
thinks nothing of it, gives him some antibiotic ointment and pills
and sends him on his way.  When that doesn't change anything in 3
days, I hit the roof and told him he had to get a second opinion or
resolve himself to sleeping on the couch.  He calls the other doctor
back who suggests he see a surgeon to see if it is something that
needs to be removed.

Imagine the surprise when the doctor's local surgery REMOVES A WHOLE
OBJECT from his head.  The doctor was so surprised he almost dropped
the thing.  It was nothing he had ever seen and, after cutting it
open to look inside, he sends it off to a lab. 

Imagine OUR surprise when the doctor calls today saying it was some
kind of fly infestation.  The ONLY reason we know it's a bot fly
larvae is because we typed in "fly lays egg under skin" into the
Google search engine.  Warbles?  Bot flies?! Damn bot fly pictures
look just like the one that came from his head.

My husband has called the doctor back with the identifying
information.  Thanks for sharing your story and listening to mine!
Tammi

Mine got me in Belize. Not sure where exactly. Probably hiking in Blue
Hole National Park. I still think it is unfair that while my wife seemed
to be a mosquito-magnet, I was the one who got the bot fly!

I now were a hat to cover the shaved patch in the top of my head. After
reading your account, I suppose I should be thankful that I was bitten
where I was, though.

Hope Mark is recovering satisfactorily.
--
D. Edward Farrar
Membership Administrator

BY FAR MY MOST FAVORITE WRITTEN STORY

11/29/01

...yes, it's true...I wasn't going to tell everyone
but rumors have been spreading here in San Diego, so I
thought I'd better let everyone know officially.  I
understand that most of you know me as a master of
exaggeration, and some may say 'King of bullshit'; but
what I am about to say, my friends, is by NO MEANS a
prank or stretch of the imagination - you better be
sitting down...(...Lord knows I'm not...) ...Let me
explain.....


(...soft jungle drumbeat please...) ...as most of you
know, I've recently returned from the jungles of
Central America - a quite lengthy trip at that...a
beautiful land with cascading waterfalls, limestone
caves that extend 20-30 miles, human sacrifice pits,
monkeys swinging from the lush green canopies above,
colorful Parrots and Toucans more numerous than
silicone breasts on a Baywatch episode...wild animals
breaking the silence of the night with spine tingling
howls - and ravenous mosquitoes the size of
hummingbirds...

Upon my return from another, fortunately still well
hidden, paradise - I began to feel a little 'out of
balance.' I noticed I was eating alot more, sleeping
very little with frequent nocturnal bathroom breaks.
One afternoon, after lunch at a McDonalds; I was hence
to find I've subconsciously left the pickles on my
burger where for 30 years previous to that - I would
have not...

This is when I became concerned. I made an appointment
at the well known and World respected Kaiser Hospital
in Clairemont Mesa (a hospital usually reserved only
for royalty and such.) Upon a brief introduction to my
doctor, I soon found myself dis-robed in front of
her...(I didn't even have to buy her a drink) She gave
a quick examination, and while behind me she made a
few strange vocal expressions and then scurried out
the door to consult a medical book. Her return was not
quick, and her once sweet smiling face was now turned
to an unusual grimace that would resemble maybe
someone who had just had their knuckles crushed while
simultaneously swallowing a Tabasco filled, premature
lemon...

She asked me to describe my recent past in detail -
and to expand on any events which I had pondered as
peculiar...
Why then, my thoughts became light again, as I drifted
off to recant the tales of the rainforest and warm
affectionate Tapirs...
I was with a puzzled look upon my face as she
interrupted and proceeded to finish my story for
me...she continued that while asleep in an open jungle
cabana near the Macal River I must have been
intimately visited by a young native woman; yes, young
she was indeed, but with large eyes and a beautiful
name...those who know her well call her
Hominis....Dermatobia Hominis that is...an evil bitch
of a creature that lays eggs to be hatched only upon
warm blooded hosts while they sleep in peace...and one
of those eggs had hatched and a bouncing baby larvae
has burrowed into my upper leg (lower buttock) region.
Given time, it will then (after eating copious amounts
of flesh) will crawl out and undergo
metamorphossisesess (sp?) to a fly and then try to
find a mate for its short airborne life....It is
presently enjoying a rather pleasant stay; under the
hospitals orders that they don't want to kill it
inside of me, they can't remove it surgically until it
gets larger, and they want me to provide a more mature
specimen for study (I am one of now 4 in the last 10
years in San Diego to have one of these horrendous
afflictions.

I used to be of the Anti-Abortion stance....but now
considering actually being faced with the situation -
I must admit, I have leaned a little more to the
Pro-Choice side...and, have recently scoffed at the
doctor's orders, and taken it upon myself to do a home
abortion technique. This was a very tough and
emotional decision for me; my friends Nancy and Alex
have begged for me to keep it - and have even named
him 'Edgar' they say I have other options, and I'm
just taking the easy way out....that's there's two
lives I need to think about now...and then there's the
heavy flak from the religious community as well...
but alas, I have decided...(I actually have received
native remedy advice from one of the local Taxi
Drivers who is Guatemalan but grew up in the vast
metropolis of Belmopan, the Belizean Capital -
population of 7,000 and a plethora of jungle medicine
expertise...)

Interesting side-note: Recently, I almost had a bad
car accident on my way to go skiing. At about 78 mph,
I felt the worst stabbing pain I have ever had in my
life. My legs went numb, my eyes went shut, and I
started swerving all over Interstate 215 Northbound.
However, while snowboarding, I was having a lovely
chat on the slopes. Since it was warm, I was not
wearing very thick pants. Throughout this 10 minute or
so conversation, by butt became frozen to the ski
slope - and after breaking free I noticed that I
didn't feel Edgar anymore. And for the next two nights
I slept peacefully without the usual nightmares of
'Alien' or 'The Fly.'  But about three days later, he
came back and is now madder than hell...


I encourage all who have read this lamentable tragedy
to do further research by internet, look for:
Dermatobia Hominis, Bot Fly, or Human Bot-fly. Also,
for a medical analysis consult
"http://bugs.uah.ualberta.ca/webbug/parasite/botfly.htm"

So now, that I got a wild bug up my ass; ...in
closing...I would like to present a little something I
came up with to describe my last 4 weeks....


"Edgar"
There once was a young man named John
Who couldn't stay land-locked too long
so he bought him a ticket
to the jungle and thicket
and nude dancing to sweet island song

But was bit in the ass
by an insect so crass
that it injects a worm
to wiggle and squirm
and form an infectious mass

Quick return to the states
for the verdict that awaits
from the doctor and nurse
to cure this damn curse
before the *%##@$& thing mates


But Alex and Nancy then said
Dear John, there's nothing to dread
Nancy knitted a quilt
for the cradle Alex built
to become Edgar's nursery bed


So Edgar's his name
but my decision still the same
and the next time I'm plastered
I'll kill this damn bastard
and hold not one ounce of shame

John Chupp

After responding to his story & here is his reply.

Brenda,
Thank you for responding...I found your website story
a week ago while researching this demon. I thought it
would be nice share the fact that there are others
with  similar experiences...and I thoroughly enjoyed
those writings!!!!

I had him removed late last night at the Emergency
Room - it was absolutely killing me!!! I was going
crazy...
now he's in a test tube in my kitchen..

good luck to you and yours!!!

John; Proud Father

Thank you for your very witty and useful website on Mark's Human Botfly
Infestation Story.

For the last six weeks, after a trip to Belize etc, I have had a Botfly larva
in my scalp at the back of my head    I couldn't see it but I could feel it, as
no doubt you can imagine!             I went through four doctors in as many
weeks (and lots of antibiotics and tests) before eventually meeting one who
recognized the problem instantly.

Mark's story was a great source of information and inspiration during the last
fortnight , once I knew what to look for.     It's always reassuring to know
that someone else has survived a much more grueling ordeal!

Botty was removed surgically today.  He didn't want to leave and hung on
grimly  until the resourceful doc gave him a mouthful of saline solution
through a syringe.

With best wishes,

Robbie Graham

My wife and I honeymooned in Punta Islita the first week of April, of this
year. I only recently had the "worm" removed and discovered what it was.
Fortunately for me it was digging only in my arm. None of the Dr's I saw had
a clue what was infecting my arm and my wife, all along said ..."it's a
worm...it's a worm." She even named it Herman the Worm, all this before we
actually knew it was a worm!
What a story I will have for a long time!! It was my 15 minutes of fame at
the hospital.
Regards,
John

By Monday December 9, Rick had faxed your article to his doctor, who said to try superglue.  This did the trick.  We had been afraid to kill the suckers while still imbedded in the skin.  Seems that superglue works because it dries so fast, and you can glob it on.  When we peeled back the superglue, part of the larva was sticking out of the skin (must have been trying to
get air and got caught).  The dead larva could be pulled out by the part sticking out (using a Kleenex when grasping it), but the surest way to get them out was to squeeze them out (a couple of times they shot 2 feet into the air which meant I jumped about 2 feet myself.)  One time, when one was pulled out, only half of it came out, with the remainder having to be squeezed out.  I got all out but one, covered it with antibacterial cream and watched it with a light and magnifying glass.  Sure enough, the cream was showing a bubble.  These babies definitely won't squeeze out if still alive.  One more application of superglue did it, and the next morning, the last one jumped out to greet the day with an easy squeeze.
Just thought you'd want to know about the superglue treatment.  Definitely  the most effective and efficient. Turns out Rick had 5 botfly larvae in his scalp.
We dropped them into a half-full miniature bottle of Jack Daniels (kind of  like the worm in the Tequila) and sent them off to his doctor who definitely wanted to examine them.
All the while I cared for Rick (and the botflies), I kept saying that part of the wedding vow to myself, "In sickness and in health."  When those nasty things came out, I couldn't stop saying, "You poor man, you poor man." You see, when he'd stop in the middle of walking, hold his head in pain and grimace and yelp, I had been a bit skeptical before I knew what these things were.  Now, I will never doubt him when he says he is in pain.)
THANK YOU, for putting your article on the web.  Who knows how long it
would have taken to get a correct diagnosis in Columbus, Ohio?  We are grateful to you.

Jennifer and Rick Brunner

P.S.  When a buddy of Rick's heard about his botflies, he e-mailed Rick saying, "You know I always thought your wife looked like Sigourney Weaver, but don't you think you're taking this alien thing a little too far?" Thanks again.

This email with a photo has been going around but the information is wrong!
The true story about a 5 yr. old boy and photos come from this site below. http://archopht.ama-assn.org/issues/v118n7/ffull/epe90105-1.html

Got this in a forwarded email. Is this a Bot Fly Larva?
Subject: FW: eye irritation read it first. This poor guy was minding his own business & he felt an eye irritation. Thinking that it was just regular dust, he started to rub his eye, in an effort to remove the  dust. Then his eyes got really red, so he bought some eye drops from the pharmacy. A few days passed and his eyes were still red and seemed a little swollen. Again he dismissed it as dust & continued rubbing, hoping it would go away. As the days went by, the swelling of his eye got worse & the redness increased until he decided to go and see a doctor for a check up.
The doctor immediately wanted an operation, being afraid of a tumor growth or cyst.   At the operation, what was thought to be a growth or cyst, actually turned out to be a live worm. What was thought initially to be just mere dust actually was an insect's egg......

Hi,
We just happened to be telling our children about the botfly that I got from Belize. I thought I would go to the net and look it up. I got your story. Thanks for vindicating the pain and such that I went through. I am from South Dakota, definitely not the botfly capital of the world, and married to a dermatologist. Thankfully mine was in my back and not in the nether regions and only 1 larva. I finally had way more than enough wine and squeezed it out. It hit the mirror I was looking at and started to squirm. Due to my wife being a derm we knew about these critters, but she was still in denial until I showed it to her. We still have it saved in a test tube.
Thanks for the web site! Botfly victims united!

John

A couple of weeks ago my 16 year old son returned from the Jungle in Peru. He has a lump on his head with a  whole it drains blood some puss. 3 doctors have looked at it and told us they don't know what it is. Tonight I applied warm compress and gentle pressure have been doing this for a week.) and all of a sudden the whole look like it got bigger and this live thing shot out and landed on me. We put it in a bottle.
It is still moving. My husband had a read an article while my son was in Peru that mention botfly. So here I am on your page and thanks to your information I may get some sleep. I will take this with me to the doctor in the morning. I can't thank you enough!!! He also complains of the area around his ear hurting. Any extra Information would be most helpful!!!!!
Evon Fales

Hi Brenda

Thank you for all of your help!! This morning at the clinic I asked the one physician who speaks the best English if it was a bot fly, and she didn't think it was. She said there was no wormy looking larvae in it, and that it is probably a bacterial infection. All of my symptoms have been very similar to what you described as being the bot fly though. Yesterday a big core squeezed out and it seems to be getting much better ever since. Actually today it feels great and has reduced in size alot, I can actually touch it with out being in pain. I guess if it is a bot fly it will remain a mystery, I am just glad it is healing so I can enjoy my last few weeks in Costa Rica, I have had a wonderful time. Even the bot fly wouldn't stop me from coming back. Thanks again for all of your help.

Janet Hollifield

I feel for you, especially since you and the wife had to endure the stupid arrogance of doctors who won't let you help them out.  I came home with 8 in my back (From Belize, by a lake) out of which 7 were extracted by following the traditional method of "airtight" goop suffocation followed be popping them out.   My boyfriend became excellent at it, bless his heart, and was trying to let the doctors know as they insisted on digging for the last one themselves.  Now I have a nice size scar on my back. Not to mention, the last bot fly....  boyfriend got that one out as well after it burrowed even deeper, escaping the scalpel.
All in all it's a good drinking story.

Krisztina

Hi!  My name is Maya Almaraz and I am a freshman at the University of California, Berkeley.  In January I went on a trip to Belize as part of a research team out of UC Davis.  We were trapping and tagging spinney pocket mice and other small rodents in the rainforest to study their relation to seed dispersal and germination.  I have been back for about a month and
today. I found out my friend and I both have beefworms (botflies).  I had seen doctors twice before and was told it was an infected mosquito bite and given antibiotics.   Both times I had specifically asked if it was botflies because while on our trip a man staying with us had a couple in his head and had a friend squeeze them out at the dinner table for him, that image stayed with me.  So after seeing a tropical disease specialist I found I have three. They are in no way the size of a goose egg, but big enough to feel.  I was told I need surgery (even though I have heard the raw meat theories) and wondering how long it was before Mark finally got his professional treatment and how urgent treatment is for me and my friend.  Thanks a bunch and I hope to hear from you soon.

-Maya Almaraz

Hi there,
  Thank you so much for your thorough review of the Bot Fly. I am a family physician in Bellingham WA.  I work at an Urgent Care Center.  Today I saw a 24 year old male who had traveled to Costa Rica 3 weeks ago.
He remembered being bit by a mosquito on the left calf one night while sitting on the beach.  Two sites became itchy and eventually each formed indurate papules with a 1mm umbilicated center.  The persistence of the lesions combined with their waxing and waning pain and itching motivated him to come see me.

Admittedly I wasn't sure what was going on.  Two days ago I treated him with an antibiotic figuring these were boils.  But today the patient said it felt like something was moving.  One thing lead to another and I cleaned and numbed up his leg and got the larva out of one site.
I didn't know what it was but I knew that I had seen it before.  After exhausting all the texts where I thought I had seen this, I went to the internet.  A search on "subcutaneous larva Costa Rica" led me to your site.
What a resource! I have forwarded the link to the patient. He is excited to have the information. I did not attend to the second site today.  He wants to try the meat treatment tonight. Thank you for your site. The information has helped a very grateful, if not understandably repulsed, 24 year old male.  The information has made me look like I know what I'm doing (always a goal in the doctor biz). Total time from excision to diagnosis thanks to your site:  around 3 hours. I appreciate your having the "balls" to share. This is truly a representation of the value of the internet.
Gratefully yours,

Todd

I am originally from Belize, Central America, and a few years ago I went back to Belize to visit and I was bitten by a botfly, and it was a very strange experience for me because I lived in Belize for twenty years of my life and was never bitten by one but I have heard of other people that worked in the jungle have and also my late father had been bitten when he was working in the bush, he was a sawmill owner, so he was always in the jungle. and so years later when I was bitten I was not sure if this was just a mosquito bite or what because I was not in the bush/jungle but I was on a boat traveling down river, but I wondered why my mosquito bite was not getting better, I noticed the spot was very irritated and oozing and started to feel a biting I tried to take care of it on my own and I thought it will get better eventually and it did not, I one night noticed that when I squeezed it! s! something pulled back in, I saw a head and that is when I screamed out and I told my husband to take me to the hospital because this was something live inside of me and pretty freaky, off we went to the hospital and the doctor was freaked out by this asked where I got this he has never seen anything like this before and said that it may have to be removed surgically and he told me to call the science museum of Chicago and find out what this was and I did and they had no idea but they were curious about it and told me that when I get it removed to please contact them again but this is what I did; if you want to know more about this please reply: Is the suspense getting to you!!! D

More from D regarding how her botfly was removed.

Jan. 26, 2002

Hello again, well as the story continues regarding the botfly. I called a friend of mine from Belize and told her my situation with the botfly and she told me that her mother had some knowledge of what this could be and I called her mother right away and told her my story and so she said that she would help me; my husband took me over to her house and my friend's mom told me to lie down and that she will drip hot wax into the hole and that she will squeeze the area as hard as she can and cannot let go until the bug comes out and it certainly did, it hurt a lot ,it was about an inch long , with hair and looked well nourished (smile) she said oh my gosh why did you wait so long because this thing was so big already, anyway  I saved it and I put it inside a jar along with some preservative so that the Science museum had told me to do and I was to meet this guy from the museum to give it! t! o him but that never happened so I still have it here at home with me and I often take it out and show it at parties and it freaked everyone out, pretty weird huh! Then a couple years after that my husband went diving with his brother to Belize went to San Pedro Ambergris Caye and he came back with one in his arm but we had our experience already and we were able to take it out of his arm by just squeezing the area and his was just a long black string, freaky! Anyway that's my story, if you want to know more about Belize feel free to ask, take care, D

I emailed the botfly website to David Letterman show, hoping to get Mark an interview. Here is the rejection email from the Late Show with David Letterman.
Hey...you never know, it might have worked!

Dear Brenda,
Thanks for bringing your husband's interesting, uncomfortable and... amusing? Medical dilemma to our attention!
Unfortunately, we don't feel we can feature him as a guest on our program. Nevertheless, we appreciate you thinking of the Late Show and wish you and your husband the best.

Sincerely,

Hi Brenda

I have another botfly story to add to your collection.

I had been on vacation in Belize with my boyfriend, Arch,  from February 22
to March 3, 2003. When I returned to St. John's, Newfoundland on Monday,
March 3, 2003, I noticed a small bump on my left cheek, near my eye.  It was
slightly red and itchy and I thought it might be a mosquito bite or a zit.
I had no recollection of being bitten. I carried on normally when I returned
home, however, by March 9-10 the red spot was getting bigger, redder and
more irritated.  On Tuesday, March 11th I was driving home to lunch when I
got an excruciating stabbing pain in the bump and it began to ooze a clear
fluid.  It was throbbing and red and swollen. I had read about the botfly in
a book before I left for Belize and jokingly thought whatever the bump was
about to hatch!!  It didn't hatch but I did call my family doctor and
made an immediate appointment for that afternoon.  When he examined my face
he diagnosed it as a bite that had gotten infected and to which I had an
allergic reaction.   I made sure to tell him I had just returned from Belize
and the length of time I had been there.  He prescribed the antibiotic Cipro
for me.

I took the Cipro however had an allergic reaction almost immediately.  I
called my family doctor the following day and he prescribed another
antibiotic, Ceftin for a period of 7 days. I began taking that but did not
notice any difference in the bump on my face.  On Thursday, March 14 we were
having a baby shower for my sister-in law. I spent most of the night with a
tissue to my face as I was assaulted with these stabbing pains and fluid
continued to leak out of the bump. As the weekend came on, the bump
continued to grow, it became redder, my face became swollen from my eye to
my chin and the stabbing pains continued.  The bump looked like a volcano -
raised, round, with a hole in the center.  It continued to ooze fluid that
was mostly clear but sometimes a bloody brown or black. I even tried a bread
poultice to try and draw out what I believed to be an infection. It didn't
work.

By the week of March 17, the bump was beginning to bleed spontaneously. I
would be sat at my desk at work or driving in the car and I would feel blood
flowing down my face.  The stabbing pains continued and became worse at
night.  I called the clinic I had attended for shots prior to my trip to
Belize and explained the problem to them.  They suggested that I consult an
infectious disease specialist however I needed a referral from my family
doctor.  I returned to my family doctor and explained to him that I thought
it might be a botfly  that was causing the bump on my face - he told me I
was watching too much Star Trek!!  I asked him send me to an infectious
disease specialist and he said he wanted to "give it another shot."  He
called the infectious disease specialist and explained that I had an abscess
on my face.  The specialist recommended some antibiotic in 500 mg  tablets -
two tablets, four times a day.  I took the tablets for 24 hours and my face
actually got worse.  The swelling was so pronounced that my eyelid was
drooping and felt as if it was beginning to shut. My face looked like I had
had a tooth pulled.  The bump was still oozing fluid of various colors
spontaneously and it was still bleeding with the stabbing pain.

On the afternoon of March 19 my office assistant, Cora, came into my office
and said she didn't want to scare me but she had been researching the botfly
on the internet and was reading stories off your website and the symptoms
being described were identical to the symptoms I had been describing. I had
been pretty calm for the last 2 weeks but when I read the symptoms and saw
that they were exactly what I was experienced I started to feel a little
freaked out.  I called my family doctor again who told me not to panic, that
it took antibiotics 48 hours to work and I should wait to see what they
would do.  I explained how I had taken antibiotics for a week with no
difference in the symptoms and since taking the new drugs, my face had
actually gotten worse.  He told me if I was still worried to come in at the
end of the week.. At more prodding from my colleagues ( who were completely
grossed out by the bump and convinced it was the botfly) I went to the
emergency department of one of the city hospitals armed with the literature
from your website.

At the hospital, myself and my friend Cheryl, explained to the nurse what we
thought it was.  To my surprise, she didn't call in a psych. consult but
actually seemed to believe us.  Then to our surprise, a friend of ours who
is a surgeon showed up.  He immediately took out a syringe to aspirate the
bump to see if there was any infection and  of course there wasn't any.  The
E.R. doctor had a look at it, squeezed it a little until I told him he could
squeeze away as the bump itself wasn't painful, just the inflamed area
around it.  They concluded that these two factors, no discharge or
tenderness, indicated that there was no infection.  We discussed the
literature we had brought with us, the doctors consulted a medical journal
and then said they thought we had correctly diagnosed it. I had also brought
some literature from a physician in Canada who wrote on his experience with
the botfly and how he had surgically removed the larva.  So Mr. Surgeon
takes me into the O.R. and before I know it my face is deadened and he's
making an incision to find the creepy little guy.  He fished around for a
period of time and I was getting concerned that maybe we hadn't correctly
diagnosed it when he suddenly said "my God - you were right!!" and pulled
the maggot out and dropped into the bottle Cheryl was holding (she was quite
the assistant!).  He continued to root around for a period of time to make
sure Fred (as we christened him) wasn't a twin and didn't have any roommates
or that we hadn't left part of Fred behind!!  Fortunately there were no more
and I was stitched up with 2 stitches located just to the side of my eye. 

I had a good look at the little guy - who was still moving - and he was
identical to the pictures on the websites - white, with 3 stripes that are
actually spiny hooks, what looked to be a tail but what we think might have
been the breathing tube and 2 little pincers at the front of him.  My God, I
can't believe it was in me!! I felt immediate relief, both physically and
mentally, the swelling around me eye immediately started to subside as did
the inflammation.

In any event, that was 2 days ago, it is now Friday March 21 and my face is
100% improved!!  There is some swelling from the surgery but less than there
was with the botfly and the pain and discomfort is gone, with the exception
of the incision. And I am none the worse for the wear.

SO the question everyone keeps asking - would I go to Belize again??
Absolutely!!  The chances of this happening appear to be slim, no one else I
know who was there had any bites, so I'd  certainly take the chance again.
The whole experience does seem rather surreal and as the T-shirts proclaim ,
it was rather UNBELIZEABLE!!

Annette M. Conway
St. John's, NFLD.
Canada

Thank you for replying.  I also meant to put in my story that it was thanks
to your website that I was able to identify definitively that it was indeed
the botfly.  I wanted to share my story as well so that maybe it might help
other people who were uncertain as to what condition they had.  And yes, my
doctor is being sent the lab report on the botfly for my chart - which I
think I will then be taking to a new physician.

Again, thank you so much for having the foresight to start this website -
you've undoubtedly helped more people than you'll ever know.

Annette Conway

Your welcome Annette. 

I too was bitten and had to have surgery to remove my friend who I brought back from a cruise with an 8 hour stop in Costa Rica.   After reading all of the stories mine is similar to several of them...except for the bitten area which is close to where Mark was bitten but I am a female so lets say it was about 6 inches below the belly button.
     thank you for all the info on the subject and lets hope none of us need it again

  MAY        MayzieK @aol.com

May 27, 2003

My boyfriend and I got back from Costa Rica 6 weeks ago and an hour ago he gave birth to a full grown botfly!! All joking aside this thing was really disgusting. We were hiking in the rainforest at the bottom of the Arenal volcano 5 days into the trip and during a stop to observe a large group of spider monkeys we both experienced the only mosquitoes bites we can remember getting during the whole trip. We have decided this is most likely the time he received when he received the little larvae. Two days after returning he had what we thought was a nasty, but normal, spider bite on his lower right leg. For the first two weeks it never improved, but didn't seem to get much worse, just continued to itch. In the weeks to follow, the area became large; almost egg size, red, and a hole began to form in the center. The area around the hole was hard to the touch. A few tiny fluid filled blisters appeared around the outside.  When he would squeeze it a fluid would come out but nothing would happen. The hole remained open all the time, never healing over. 5 weeks into it, this thing is visibly not a normal spider bit so he begins searching the internet under "Costa Rican Spider Bites".  To our shock the first site to pop up is Mark's story and all the details match; the volcano, the pictures, and the time frame. So after calming down from the realization that he most likely has a 'maggot' like creature growing in his leg we decide to do all the things these sites tell us to do.

This was his first visit to a doctor who skeptically turned him away with an antibiotic as all the other stories suggested would happen. 

   Besides constantly trying to squeeze something out of there, our first attempt was 41/2 weeks into it. Neosporin and a band aid. For two days this did not show any results, except for improving the look of the area outside of the hole slightly.

   The third night of following suggestions from other stories we smothered it in a pile of Neosporin for 2 hours which seemed to work for other people but not for this botfly just yet.

   The fourth day into treating it (5 weeks and one day from the day we think he got it), he continued with the Neosporin and a band aid. Later that evening he removed the band aid to finally see results. One side of the creature was sticking out of the hole, squirming around for air. It remained out briefly and then randomly made appearances for the next few minutes while myself, and 3 or 4 other people could witness this thing in his leg.

   At this point we decided to suffocate the thing by whatever means necessary. We lathered Vaseline about a half inch thick on the hole and waited. It took almost an hour before we saw it come up for air. At this time I stuck the tweezers into the mound of Vaseline and yanked on it. We both felt and heard a snap, but soon after, it was poking itself out again. 

  An hour and a half into it, we had attempted the Vaseline, then Elmer's glue (which was to hard to see through and didn't seem to show results), and finally a dab of super glue which hardened over the hole with what we thought was part of the body stuck inside the clear glue. We pulled that off, thinking we tore part of it off. We covered the hole with Neosporin and a band aid and called it a night.

  This morning, to our surprise the thing was still moving around and making an appearance now and then.

 We though we finally had enough proof for a doctor’s recognition, so he made another trip to the emergency room, who tried to send him to a surgeon, who then tried to send him back to the emergency room. US doctors did not want to deal with this at all.

  After all of this failed, we resorted to the tweezers and Neosporin. Mid-day after pointless trips to see doctor's, and 2 hours of observing the hole through random fluids the night before, he was able to grab a hold of the end of the botfly larvae with the tweezers and slowly pull. A long skinny portion came out first and then the end, a spiny round shape, popped out. It looks just like the pictures you see here:

http://mycostaricatrip.sitemanager.ims.net/learn/index.php?category_id=163

As long as there are no other larvae inside, this looks like the end of it!

Thanks! Your site is also a great link to send to gross out friends and families.  I didn't take any photographs of my botflies, so it is nice to have access to pictures.

I was living in Belize when I got my botflies, so I luckily did not have to deal with baffled doctors.  We were living in San Pedro on Ambergris Caye but had spent the Christmas holiday vacationing on the mainland. We spent a week hiking in Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary, which is a beautiful place and I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in hiking, waterfalls, birds or jaguars.  We went hiking with a local guide one day; he was very knowledgeable about the plant and animal life- including the botfly. He told us about the botfly and got the expected response- we were all disgusted.

When we left the reserve, we thought we were only taking with us memories of jaguars, trogans and peccaries.  As we sat at the bus stop outside of the reserve, I joked to my husband that I had some mosquito bites on the top of my head- maybe we were taking botflies too.  We laughed, and it was almost two weeks before we discovered that this was true.
Two weeks later our vacation was finished and we were back to our normal lives in San Pedro when the pain started.  Lots of people on this site have described it.  For me, it felt like there was something stabbing me repeatedly underneath the skin.  It would come and go, and I didn't know what to think of it.  My neighbor and my boss both told me it was a botfly- in Belize they call them "beef worms".  I guess I was in denial because I didn't do anything about it right off.
Meanwhile, I developed a serious case of bronchitis and several of my lymph glands started swelling. Maybe it was my body fighting off the foreign creature or maybe just coincidence. I went to a local doctor who treated the bronchitis and I showed the doc the botfly bumps.  He told me that it looked like the worms had already escaped and just to watch the bumps for a while. I spent the next week too consumed with my bronchitis to worry about the worms- but the pain would still come and go so I knew they had to be alive.
Week three and I had pretty much recovered from my denial and I had totally recovered from the bronchitis.  I knew I had worms in my head and started asking locals for remedies.  I got many suggestions that all involved ways to suffocate the flies and then squeeze them out- some suggested using tobacco, others Vaseline, others tape.  But, my husband was out of town that week and I was determined to wait for his return to help me squeeze them out.  The fact that I waited so long to get it over with shows that either I didn't want to face it or my pain, which was terrible, was not as bad as other people experienced on this site.
Finally, four weeks after we left Cockscomb Basin, my husband covered my bumps in tobacco.  Immediately, one started to wiggle (I could feel it squirming around) and my husband squeezed it out.  It popped right out and we stared at the little creature- a plump white worm with little black  dots all around.  And I do mean it POPPED out- I swear I could hear it. 
The others were not so easy.  We popped out four more that night that were not so eager to escape the tobacco. My husband had to push on my head with all his strength until I couldn't stand the pressure any more. Sometimes the little white tip of a tail would pop out and then go back under again.  If I may get really disgusting, one actually exploded half way out- we had to squeeze out the remainder of it separately.
I had a friend in from out of town, by the way, who was as excited as could be to witness this.  I felt like a lab specimen.
After a grueling two hours of pushing out worms, I washed my head, cleaned it with alcohol, and went to sleep- content that the botfly ordeal was over.  Withdrew away four of the little buggers and kept the fifth in a jar of alcohol and brought it to a local doctor the next day who confirmed that it was a botfly. My Belizean friends assured me that it was nothing to worry about.  It turns out that it is pretty common in the jungle areas of the mainland.
But, it was not over.  A week went by and I still had two large, painful bumps on the top of my head from which we had already squeezed botflies.  I just assumed (denial again?) that my skin was still recovering from its ordeal and did nothing about it. One night, over four weeks after our trip, we were sitting on the beach having a drink when I felt one of them wiggling again.  The pain was so intense that for a while I thought I might pass out.  "This ends tonight!" I told my husband, and we went back home for a second two hour session of botfly removal. Without any tobacco or Vaseline, my husband pushed two more botfly worms out that night for a grand total of seven. And these last two were ugly creatures- big fat worms, about twice the size of the first five.  I had to build up the guts to look at them.  One of them was still alive when it came out and we put it in a plastic bag filled with alcohol where it remained alive, wriggling and rolling around, for a few hours.
We squeezed each bump on my head with no more results-nothing else came out but puss.  Then I applied alcohol to the area for days afterwards- my Belizean friends told me that the most important thing to worry about is keeping the wound from becoming infected, especially if you use tobacco.
Since then, I wear a hat or a bandana on my head every time I go to jungle areas. 
-Carla

The Mystery of the Rain Forest Rash
She Wanted to Know What She'd Picked Up on Vacation. . .Until She Learned the Answer

By Christine C. Lawrence
Special to The Washington Post
Tuesday, November 11, 2003; Page HE01

This is the tale of a medical mystery. Four doctors were stumped by the clues: exotic travel, strange weeping sores, inexplicable pains, rampant rashes. Solving the mystery took a chance encounter at the library, an expert author and a physician who listened closely to the patient.
But we get ahead of ourselves. Before the happy ending is a story that is not always pretty. In fact, it gets downright gross.
The tale begins with the Eskinazis -- David and Michelle and their sons Michael, 13, and Andrew, 8 -- taking a trip to Costa Rica last April. The family spent some of their 10 days walking together on paths beneath the rain forest canopy, looking for monkeys and birds.
One day, Michelle Eskinazi -- a friend of mine, and the person who provided many of the details of this account -- went for a walk by herself and returned without incident. When she returned home to Bethesda, however, Eskinazi noticed two red bites, one on each leg. The bites became inflamed and began to ooze, sometimes a clear liquid, sometimes blood and sometimes a substance that looked like olive oil, light green in color. The area around the bites itched. Around each bite was a bright red ring with a poison-ivy-like rash.
That wasn't the worst of it.
"Sometimes it felt like something was moving inside the bite, and I had incredible stabbing pains, mostly at night," Eskinazi recalled.
She went to her internist, told him she had just returned from Costa Rica and showed him the swollen bites. "Tick bites," he said, mentioning the possibility of Lyme disease. He put her on antibiotics.
The bites continued to ooze. While taking Michael to another doctor for treatment of a bad case of poison ivy, Eskinazi showed her the bites. The doctor looked puzzled, spent 30 minutes looking through medical books and eventually put her on another antibiotic, this one for staph infection and Lyme disease.

The Ooze
More weeks went by. The bites had now swollen into half-inch blue-green mounds. The sharp, moving pain was more intense.
Eskinazi called the National Institutes of Health, looking for a doctor specializing in infectious diseases. But she was told that in order to be treated there, she needed to be either in the hospital or formally diagnosed with an infectious disease.
She tried her internist again, who said he was stumped.
She then called another dermatologist. This doctor -- a woman -- listened intently as Eskinazi described her symptoms, the other diagnoses, her trip to Costa Rica, her walk in the rain forest. The doctor took a look at the bites and admitted she was perplexed.
"But at least she listened to my tale of woe," Eskinazi said. "And she thought it was more serious than any of the other doctors." The dermatologist took a skin sample from one of the bites and sent it to a pathologist. The results showed nothing unusual.
Two months had now passed, the symptoms remained steadfast and Eskinazi was having trouble sleeping. Her husband and sons didn't want to look at the bites. She didn't want to look at them, either. They seemed somehow disconnected from her body. She continued to take an antibiotic but had no reason to believe it was doing any good.

It's in the Book
Disheartened, frustrated and exhausted, Eskinazi made a routine trip to the library, where a book lying on the return desk caught her eye: "The Travel Doctor: Your Guide to Staying Healthy While You Travel," by Mark Wise.
"I flipped through it and saw a section on Lyme disease and ticks, and thought I would take it home and see if I could find anything about my symptoms," she said.
"Of course, I'm reading through it right away and suddenly, in the chapter on 'Other Insect-Borne Diseases,' this sentence catches my eye: 'Myiasis -- This one is a bit disgusting,' " she said. "Well, that clearly describes my bites," Eskinazi recalled thinking.
"Myiasis is an infection of the skin caused by the larvae of certain flies that are present in the tropics," Wise's book reads. "The two main species are Dermatobia hominis (the human botfly) in South and Central America, and Cordylobia anthropophaga [the skin maggot or tumbu fly] in Africa. Most of the infections I've seen have been in travelers visiting the rain forests of Costa Rica and Belize.
"At the site of penetration, a boil-like lesion develops fairly rapidly. It will be tender and red. People often complain of transient, shooting pains in the lesion, as if there is something moving inside. There is! A tiny opening is usually visible at the top, through which the little maggot gets his, or her, air," the book says.

That Little Maggot
Astounded at the exact description of her plight, Eskinazi took the book's advice to suffocate the maggot. Wise suggests peanut butter, Vaseline or raw bacon (like the fatback that dermatologist had mentioned!).
After she coated each bite with peanut butter, Eskinazi said, a white, worm-like creature started to push through to the surface. She tried to pull it out with tweezers, but couldn't grasp it.
The next day she covered the bites with duct tape for an hour. "The pain was paralyzing," she said. "I yanked off the duct tape and saw a little white piece come out of the bite and tried again to yank it out. It was too quick and gross for me to do alone."
She called the woman dermatologist and told the receptionist she had diagnosed her bites.
"I have been bitten by a botfly," Eskinazi said. "I told her to look up myiasis in a medical book. The doctor called me back immediately and said to come in first thing the next day." Eskinazi brought the book with her, and the doctor told her she had made the correct diagnosis. "We need to cut them out," the doctor said.
After giving Eskinazi a local anesthetic, she opened the wound on the left leg with a tiny scalpel and removed long, gooey, white thin strings that looked like tiny worms. "Oh, my God," Eskinazi then heard her say, "will you look at this!"
Gingerly, the doctor asked Eskinazi, "Do you want to see what was inside?" After three months of frustration and pain, Eskinazi said, "Of course."
The doctor dangled a white, fat, striated worm from the end of the tweezers. It was about an inch long and a quarter-inch wide. "I couldn't believe the size of it, and neither could she," Eskinazi said. "Oh yuck," they said together.
The doctor then cut through the second bite and extracted an even larger worm.
When the procedure was over and the worms were floating in separate jars of preservative,
Eskinazi and the dermatologist agreed that they would each keep one. The doctor said she had never seen anything like it and hoped she never would again.
Eskinazi returned to the office of the first dermatologist, the one who had told her the bites were a allergic reaction.
"Look at what another dermatologist just removed from my leg," she told the receptionist, holding up the jar. "I thought the doctor might want to see it, since he told me the bites were nothing." The receptionist hurried to the back of the office, returning to tell Eskinazi she would be charged a $15 co-payment to see the doctor. Eskinazi refused and stormed from the office.
She went home and e-mailed Wise. She told him that his book had solved a mystery that had confounded four doctors. Wise was also interested in seeing the worm. As he wrote in his section on the human botfly, "If you do end up with one of these things, take it out and send it to me. I have a little museum."
The Eskinazi family left Bethesda this summer and moved to Charleston, S.C. While packing up their belongings, one mover let out a yelp and held up the small jar with the worm floating in it.
"What in the world is this?" he asked.
"Well, it's a long and not a pleasant story," Eskinazi told him. "But that thing came out of my right leg."•

Christine C. Lawrence is a writer in Bethesda.

This was truly a one of a kind experience!  One I hope to never repeat!  My wife (Cheryl), four friends and I took a cruise in the first week of November.  On the third day of the cruise (November 4) we stopped in Belize where we did cave tubing, which included a short walk through the forest.  I don't specifically remember getting bit by any mosquitoes, but on the return home (November 9) I recall having a handful of itchy "bumps" on my scalp.  Of course, I simply assumed that they were mosquito bites, and, although Mom always told me not to as a kid, I scratched them until they would bleed a bit.  The itching subsided a little during the following week, but the next weekend they were again quite annoying and itchy.  Also, I noticed a hard bump behind my left ear (which I now know is one of my lymph nodes).  It was not itchy, but was a bit tender.  Cheryl insisted that I call the doctor to get checked out since it was worrying her.  On the other hand I was not yet alarmed i!
 n any way until two days later (Tuesday, November 18) when I woke up during the night with a burning pain in my scalp.
While I somewhat attributed the pain to my "bumps," I began to wonder if this could be an early sign of the big C.  Quite an unpleasant thought at the very least. At this point I began thinking of whether my life insurance policy was enough.  That is, given the combination of the burning and the bump behind my ear.
Needless to day, I called my primary Doc on Wednesday afternoon, who said he could get me in on Monday.  I thought. Hmmm, five days could be a long time if I have to deal with that pain, but since the stabbing pain had not returned on Wednesday (yet!), I figured the previous night's fun may not be too much to be alarmed over.  As such, on Wednesday I dealt with the itch that flared up occasionally, and did note that the hard bump behind my ear had increased a bit in size along with the five bumps on my scalp.  Also, I now had lymph nodes visibly protruding out from the left side of my neck.  Regarding the size of the bumps, the one behind my ear had increased to the size of a pencil eraser, while the ones on my head were about 2 cm in diameter and stood up about 1 cm.  Again, I was still under the impression that these were just some Belizian mosquito bites that I had annoyed with all my scratching.
Wednesday night:  imagine sleeping soundly, comfortable in a warm bed, refueling your body with its required sleep, simply happy in that most relaxed state.  Nice.  Now, slam the door shut on that coziness!  I woke up to the most painful burning sensation I have EVER experienced.  The only thing I can equate this pain to would be the feeling of someone drilling into your head with a red-hot, acid-dipped drill bit.  I ran to the bathroom and tried looking in the mirror to see what was happening.  Cheryl and I looked with two mirrors angled so that I could see that nothing was wrong with my head.  I put ice on the bumps, I washed my head in water, but there was no relief.  The burning would subside for 30 seconds and then flare up again.  I pressed on the bumps trying to push the pain away, but it would get even worse upon stopping.  The pain finally stopped after fifteen minutes, so we went back to bed.  As you can imagine I was almost afraid to go back to sleep.  However, I did and woke two more times during the night with the same experiences.
On Thursday morning (November 20) I noticed that the left side of my head was swollen and the hard bump behind my ear was disappearing beneath the swelling.  I dealt with the pain flare-ups throughout Thursday at work.  I discovered that the only thing to ease the pain was to yank on the hair around the area of the "bites."  Yes, I too, thought I was going insane from some infection I received in my head.  However, now, there were pools of blood around the bumps that were forming large scabs.  Thursday night was as bad as Wednesday.
After my Friday morning shower I looked in the mirror and, aside from the fact that the left side of my face was clearly more swollen it appeared that my left ear was flared outward.  I asked Cheryl to look at me to see if she saw anything wrong.  After laughing for way too long, she said that my ear was sticking out.  I contacted my doctor, explained that my symptoms were getting worse, and that I could not wait until Monday.  I asked if he could see me today or if I should simply go to a walk in clinic.  He suggested the walk in clinic (note:  I will be changing doctors).  Upon examination at the walk in, the on duty Doc (Dr. "B") concluded that I had cellulitus of the scalp (skin infection).  However, he did make note of my travel to Belize and that further investigation may be needed.  I was sent home with 10 days of antibiotic.  I experienced random flare-ups on Saturday and Sunday.  There was green and yellow mucus infection fluid oozing from each of the sites.  Monday!
  the infection traveled to my forehead giving me a slight Frankenstein resemblance.  By the following Friday (November 28), the burning had become more intermittent (or I was simply getting accustomed to it).  The infection oozing had ceased and all of the swelling had subsided.
I returned that evening to the same walk in and consulted with the on duty Doc (Dr. "L").  He concluded that the infection was gone, but the bumps were odd in that they had not healed at all.  A quick blood test indicated that my blood count was normal.  He cultured the oozing fluid and said he'd have results on Sunday.  On Sunday he called and said the culture came back negative.  However, my case perplexed him over the weekend and, based on notes that Dr. B wrote during my first visit to the walk in, decided to do some investigation.  In short, he told me that he believed I had bot fly larvae under my scalp.  He gave me all the same detail that I've now read on the Internet (transmitted on mosquitoes, random burning, etc.).  At his request I saw him at the walk in again to view the sites for confirmation of his research.
He offered the usual solutions:  wait for them to leave on their own (No way!), have them surgically removed (hmmm, doesn't sound much better), put ground meat on the sites and wait for the bastards to leave (Now I'm hungry), or pack petroleum jelly on the sites requiring them to come out for air.  I opted for the last method since it seemed to be the easiest option.  He also prescribed another 7 days of antibiotic to be on the safe side.
Let's just say Cheryl took some deep breaths at all this knowledge.  Armed with her Vaseline she went to work on my scalp.  It was about 15 minutes later when the burning came back, which I now understand that this is when the little guys are moving around.  However, they weren't running out of my head, as I expected.  In fact it wasn't until a few hours later that they were peaking out to get some air.  Upon discovery of Brenda and Mark's website and the many links, I thought it would be best to squeeze these nasty buggers from their little homes.  As I said before, this was a one of a kind experience.
After some blood, white liquid spatter, and cursing, I was able to produce five of those nasty little spiked maggots between 8 and 9 p.m. last night!  In retrospect it's rather funny at how these things popped out in the way that others have mentioned.  I don't know if we got better toward the end, but the last couple popped out of my head and hit the bathroom mirror with such force that the spatter left a very impressionable mess.  In fact, after the last one was out Cheryl thought it would be a wonderful idea to take some footage of the thing with our camcorder.  I don't think I'll be reviewing that tape anytime soon!
Overall, the experience is one that I would not like to repeat.  I did have relief with the knowledge that these things were not deadly, but I do wish I discovered the information sooner because I wouldn't have had to endure the pain for as long as I did.

Ed Tudino

 Dec. 23, 03 Johany wrote this article for a magazine which said it was too gruesome in context to use. She is now searching for another publication to print it. If you know of anyone please email her at address below.

Johany DeMarco        
5 Crestview Road               
Bethel, CT 06801             
(203) 791-9652
johanyjohn@yahoo.com                
First serial rights About 3,490 words         

GOT BOT
By Johany DeMarco

            There’s an insect nominated as the most disgusting, most vile, most revolting insect ever to fly on the face of this planet.  And it comes straight to you (I mean that literally) from the tropics of Central and South America.  You might want to keep a fly swatter nearby.  After you read this, it might really come in handy.

THE BOT FLY SONG

It cheerfully burrows way under your skin

Where it wiggles, lays eggs, its hooks sure do pinch!

Sooner or later its bound to come out

Out pops the maggot, how many?  You lose count!

CHORUS:

It’s Bot Fly.  It’s Bot Fly

The worst of its kind

It’s Bot Fly.  It’s Bot Fly

You’re in for a bind

It’s Bot Fly.  It’s Bot Fly

They’re the worst of its race

I’d rather have pimples all over my face.

            Bot Flies not only make great songs to sing around a campfire on a cold and crispy night, but they also come in all sorts of varieties to meet your every individual need.

            Then there’s the Horse Bot Fly.  These Bot Flies favorite pastime is laying their eggs on horse’s knees, lip hairs, jaws, cheeks, and horse’s food.  When the horses eat the egg-infested food, maggots hatch inside the horse’s stomach and intestines where they irritate the mucous linings of the intestines, rectum, and anus, making horses restless.  Some of the maggots crawl their way up the horse’s throat and into the horse’s mouth where they happily invade the tongue, gums, and mouth lining of the horse.  These happy little maggots party like there’s no tomorrow for 7 to 10 months on a major food binge!

            But the winner of the prestigious “Revolting Insect of the Year Award” goes to our dear friend, the Human Bot Fly, for its sincere demonstration of love and compassion towards the human race.  These pesty flies are very good at what they do.  They’re the Navy Seals of the insect world.  Human Bot Flies are not your average housefly.  They are scientifically classified as Dermatobia hominis, or myiatic flies.  You’re probably asking yourself what in the world does myiatic hominis mambo jumbo mean?  I don’t think you’ll be thrilled to know, but hey, because I’m such a nice person, I’ll tell you anyway.

            Since these guys are myiatic, they don’t waste time frolicking in your garbage cans.  They go directly to the source, and yes my dear friends, their favorite food on the menu is you!  In this article we will discover together the wonderful world of Human Bot Flies.  You will share in the joys of maggot birth and the miracle of puberty as these magnificent flies eject ceremoniously from underneath your skin and open their eyes for the very first time.

            Human Bot Flies are not tiny flies.  They’re pretty large and are nearly the size of bees.  They have a yellowish head, huge bluish-black thorax or body, with orange legs and brown wings.  These flies have an extremely powerful urge to reproduce.  If they were to fly towards you, not only would you hear their annoying buzz and notice how big they are, but you also would immediately try squashing them with your shoe.

            As you’ll soon find out, Bot Flies are not only cunning, they’re gifted with an IQ equal to Einstein.  They know the impending doom that awaits them if they’re seen flying in your home, let alone near you.  So what do they do?  They fly out and seek a mosquito or tick.  The lower their IQ count the better.  The Bot Fly then holds the mosquito’s wings to prevent it from escaping.  It then glues about 15 to 30 eggs at a time on the abdomen of the bloodsucking mosquito.  When the Bot Fly lets go of the mosquito’s wings, the mosquito flies away carrying the Bot Fly eggs.  The mosquito then prepares for landing on your warm body.  As the mosquito sucks on your blood, your body heat begins to hatch the Bot Fly eggs on the abdomen of the mosquito.  Once the eggs hatch and the mosquito takes off to find more blood to suck on, the tiny baby maggots burrow into your skin.  It takes about 5 to 60 minutes for these baby maggots to burrow completely under your skin, either through a hole they make for themselves or through the bite hole made by the mosquito.  You won’t even feel a thing, not yet anyway.

            These baby maggots position themselves head down inside your skin with 2 oral hooks which they use to tear your tissue while they feed on you.  The rows of curved spines along their body help anchor the maggots onto your skin.  While the maggots feed on you they make a hole in your skin so they can breathe and excrete waste.  For 6 to 8 weeks the maggots begin to grow big and strong, munching deliciously away on you.  As they mature, you’ll begin to develop sores that itch like crazy.  These itchy sores will then develop into egg-size painful boil-like sores that house the growing maggots and often ooze.  You will then feel a stabbing painful feeling due to the maggots tearing off your tissue while feeding and from their spines irritating your tissue as they squirm around.  You’ll be able to see and feel the maggots move and wiggle under your skin.  How gross!  Once the maggots grow fairly large, they will eat their way out of your skin where they fall to the ground and continue to pupate into adult flies.  The entire horrible life cycle, from birth to adult, takes around 3 months.

The legendary explorer Colonel Percy Harrison Fawcett, who ventured into the unknown tropical wilderness of South America, wrote about these Human Bot Flies.  The natives called them “Sututus.”  Let us allow Colonel Fawcett to relate his encounter with the Sututus.

            “Sututus were another trial for some of us: these are the grubs of a moth or mosquito which, after hatching from eggs left on the shirt, immediately bury themselves under the skin-usually on the back.  The little brutes could not be extracted until the sore they made was “ripe,” and even then it was an art to get them, for on being molested they clung to the flesh with sharp mandibles.  Tobacco juice sometimes helped, but killing them under the surface could bring on blood poisoning.  Later on, the Indians undertook the cure in their own way.  They would make a curious whistling noise with their tongues, and at once the grub’s head would issue from the blowhole.  Then the Indian would give the sore a quick squeeze, and the invader was ejected.”

            There’s a wonderful site on the Web where people who’ve had encounters with the Human Bot Fly can post their horrible stories.  Brenda and Mark Johnstone officially started the website after Brenda’s husband Mark was bitten not once but twice in the scrotum.

            On November 24^th, 2000 Mark and Brenda remember traveling to Costa Rica to observe the magnificent Volcano Arenal eruption from the Los Lagos observatory.  At night, while Mark is changing his clothes, he feels a mosquito bite on his scrotum.  Right away he begins to experience a strange pain in his scrotum.  When he mentions it to Brenda they both talk about what on earth it could be, whether it’s a spider bite or an infected mosquito bite.

            Brenda remembers reading something in the guidebook Explore Costa Rica by Harry S. Pariser, from their first honeymoon trip to Costa Rica.  The author mentions in the book a strange bug called the “Bot Fly (Dermatobia hominis), whose larvae mature inside flesh.  An egg-laden female botfly captures a night-flying female mosquito and glues her eggs on to it.  When the mosquito is released and bites a victim, the host’s body heat triggers an egg to hatch.  It falls off and burrows in.  The larva secures itself with two anal hooks, secreting an antibiotic into its burrow, which staves off competing bacteria and fungi.  Its spiracle pokes out of the tiny hole, and a small mound forms which will grow to the size of a goose egg before the mature larva falls out.

            Should you be unfortunate enough to fall prey to a larvae- an extremely unlikely occurrence for the average visitor- you have three cures available.  One is to use acrid white sap of the matatorsalo (bot killer), which kills the larva but leaves its corpse intact.  Another is to apply a piece of soft, raw meat to the top of the air hole.  As the maggot must breath, it burrows upward into the meat.  A third is to apply a generous helping of Elmer’s glue or cement to the hole.  Cover this with a circular patch of adhesive tape; seal this tape with a final application of glue.  Squeeze out the dead larva the next morning.  The only other alternative is to leave it to grow to maturity, giving you an opportunity to experience the transmogrification of part of yourself into another creature.  It only hurts when the maggot squirms and if you swim, presumably because you are cutting off its air supply.  Don’t try to pull it out because it will burst.  Part of its body will remain inside and cause an infection.”

            Brenda knows right away what is bothering Mark.  They go online to find more information on the Bot Fly with no success.  When they return home Mark begins to notice 2 lumps in his scrotal skin, causing him severe and intense shooting pain throughout his scrotum and perineum.

On December 17^th, 2000 Brenda brings Mark to the emergency room after a painful episode.  While Mark sits on the examining table, a lady doctor picks up Mark’s chart and says, “I’m not touching that!”   Wait a minute.  I thought it was lice?

             Hours go by.  A doctor finally arrives and Mark and Brenda tell him their horrible story.  The doctor stares skeptically at them and asks, “What other doctors are you seeing?  Are you on any kind of medication?”  The doctor then excuses himself and tells them he has to make a call to the Urologist concerning the matter at hand.

            What does the doctor really do?  He hurries to his computer and types the word “Bot Fly” on the Internet search engine.  Brenda sneaks up behind him and says,” There is a lot more information on the net if you want me to show you where it is at!”

            The doctor, taken by surprise, turns around and defends himself saying the Urologist is on his way.  It’s obvious the doctor did not know what Mark had.  If doctors don’t know they should say so.

            Dr. Michael Rashid, MD Resident of Urology, enters the scene shortly after.  Dr. Rashid believes Brenda and Mark’s story, even though he is somewhat skeptical.  They set an appointment for Tuesday, December 19.  When the day comes, Dr. Gabriel Rodriguez, MD and Assistant Professor of Urology, examines Mark.   Off they go to the operating room where vasectomies are usually performed.  Brenda is allowed to be with Mark during the operation.

            After Mark is prepped for surgery, the doctor, with Mark’s consent, takes photos of the sores.  Dr. Rodriguez tells Mark he has to cut deeper into the tissue.  All of a sudden, Dr. Rodriguez’s jaw drops open in surprise.  He exclaims, “It’s alive!” and tells the attending nurse to get a container and drop the Bot Fly maggot inside.

            While the nurse is checking out the maggot, Mark tells the nurse, “I read on the internet that those things can jump 6 feet!”

            The nurse quickly slams the lid tight on the container and sets it down.  Brenda takes the container and brings it over to Mark.  They both watch the large maggot squirm and wiggle about.  The doctor closes up the area in Mark’s scrotum and begins to get ready for Bot Fly #2.

            When they extract Bot Fly #2 it is still alive, obviously enraged that it was taken out of a cozy and warm environment.  All this reminds Brenda and Mark of the movie Alien.  Brenda says how one day Mark is complaining on how uncomfortable the stitches are.  She simply tells him, “Well now you have a little knowledge of what childbirth is like.”

“Yes, but I had twins!” Mark replies.

            Mark has healed and is doing fine.  They even have a special poem written to the version of “Twas the Night Before Christmas” by Bryan Springer about their ordeal.  Their website on Bot Fly stories is a must read!  It helps educate the unknown public about these vicious pests.

            If you ever find yourself traveling to the tropics of Central and South America and you feel a Bot Fly maggot crawling under you skin, here are some proven remedies that will help get rid of your new friend.

HOW TO GET RID OF YOUR BOT FLY (without doctor intervention)

1)       Pray that God reverse time so when you wake up in the morning this terrible nightmare never took place.

2)       Try super glue, not Elmer’s school glue.  One person who was bitten by the Bot Fly on his head used Elmer’s glue and found these maggots could eat and still breathe through the dried glue.  He and his partner suggest you try superglue instead because when you slob it on it dries fast.  When they peeled back the superglue they found part of the maggot sticking out trying to gasp for air.  They advice the surest way to get them out is to squeeze them out.  One maggot shot 2 feet into the air after being squeezed!   5 maggots were squeezed out from this person’s scalp through the superglue application.

3)       Take a little tobacco or heavy camphorated oil soaked in a small cotton ball and place it over the maggot vent hole with tape.  When the worm comes out 8 hours later pull off the tape and the worm comes out with it.

4)       Apply Tiger Balm to every mosquito bite.  Tiger Bam is rich in camphor.

5)       Epsom Salt.  One person infected by Bot Flies soaked in a tub of very hot water with Epsom salt for 45 minutes before going to bed.  To his surprise, the next morning the 2 bites he thought were spider bites had dead maggots sticking out, making it easier for him to extract them.

6)       Injecting Hydrogen Peroxide on the bite forces the little critters to come out.

7)       One person bitten by the Bot Fly says applying Icthamol, also known as pine tar, works great.  She says after you apply the pine tar, bandage the area and remove it in 2 days.   2 maggots were drawn out this way.

8)       Apply a very thick layer of Vaseline.  When the maggot’s body is poking out of the hole, quickly grab the maggot by the base and tug it out in one large movement.

9)       Squeezing the maggot out without killing it first is a bad idea because these nasty creatures have hooks that hold it strongly in place.  You also run the risk of splitting the maggot in half.  If that happens, the chance of you getting an infection is high.

10)     The Coke bottle suffocation method.  Light a cigarette.  When you blow the smoke into a Coke bottle hold it over the breathing hole and wait for the larvae to poke its head out of the hole to get some fresh air.  Once you see its head poking out place your thumbs around the hole, apply intense pressure, and push like there’s no tomorrow.   Watch out though.  These maggots are known to shoot 6 to10 feet or more into the air when they’re squeezed out!  You can also use forceps or large tweezers to extract the maggots out.

11)    And the best way to remove Bot Fly maggots is not to remove them at all!  Let it complete its life cycle and fall out on its own!  There have been obsessed Entomologists who have purposely placed Bot Fly maggots on themselves in order to get a good specimen of an adult larvae, which is rarely captured, for their collection.  This might be taking their profession a little too far, what do you think.

Every year returning tourists from the tropics of Central and South America

unknowingly bring home with them a new friend.  Think of it as a free souvenir.  Air travel has been the best way for Bot Flies to sneak into other countries and by-pass metal detectors at the airport without being suspected.  People could be in another part of the world before the maggot has completed its breathtaking life cycle.  As a result, this can cause the accidental introduction of an exotic species of fly into that country.  What a great way to make new friends!

            How do you protect yourself from Bot Flies?  You can place a sterile plastic bubble around you and your home and never venture outdoors, but that wouldn’t be much fun now, would it?

            The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest you do the following in avoiding mosquito bites, which remember, can carry Bot Fly eggs!

1)       Apply 30-35% DEET insect repellent to exposed skin every 3 to 4 hours when outdoors.  You wouldn’t want one of those eggs hatching on your nose.

2)       Wear long-sleeved clothing and long pants if you are outdoors at night.  And don’t forget to wear a hat.  You wouldn’t want to suffer sleepless nights due to maggots squirming and moving under your scalp!  It has happened.

3)       Spray an insecticide or DEET repellent on your clothing.  Mosquitoes are known to bite through thin clothing.

4)       Spray the insecticide Pyrethrin or something similar all over your bedroom before going to bed.

5)       Use a mosquito net over the bed if your bedroom is not air-conditioned or screened.  Spray the net with the insecticide Permethrin for additional protection.

Next time you travel to Central and South America, please don’t forget to carry your bug spray, unless you’re looking to make new friends.  Carrying a fly swatter with you at all times is not a bad idea.  If you don’t you never know.  The one fly you shooed away after it bit you could have been carrying Bot Fly eggs.  Surprise!  In a couple of weeks you might be giving birth to a beautiful pair of healthy twins!  Welcome to parenthood!

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Fawcett, Colonel Percy Harrison.  Lost Trails, Lost Cities.  Funk and Wagnalls Company, 1953.

Wilkins, Harold T.  Secret Cities of Old South America.  Adventures Unlimited Press, Illinois, 1952.

PROFESSIONAL WEB SITE

Campos Pereira, M.  University of Sao Paulo:  Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Department of Parasitology.  1 March 2003

< http://icb.usp.br/~marcelcp/Dermatobia.htm>.

Department of Natural Resources, State Michigan.  Warbles.  3 March 2003

<http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-10370_12150_12220-26354--,00.html>.

Goodman, R.M. Montalvo, B. Reed, F. Scribbick, C, McHugh, R. Beatty, and R. Aviles.  Casado Internet Group.  Bot Flies, aka torsalo or Dermatobia hominis.  26 February 2003 http://www.ambergriscaye.com/pages/town/botfly.html>.

Oklahoma State University College of Veterinary Medicine.  Order Diptera.  4 March 2003 http://www.cvm.oakstate.edu/instruction/kocan/vpar5333/533ot5aa.htm>.

Department of Medical Entomology.  Exotic Myiasis.  Non-Biting Flies.  2 March 2003

<http://medent.usyd.edu.au/fact/nonbitingflies.htm>.

<http://medent.usyd.edu.au/fact/myiasis.html>.

Vandevelde, Alexander G. M.D.  Malaria Prevention: A Serious Matter for the Tropical Traveler.  February 1997.

<http://www.dcmsonline.org/jax-medicine/1997journals/feb97/malaria.htm>.

PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL WEB SITE

Johnstone, Brenda and Mark.  Home Page.  <http://www.vexman.com/botfly.htm>.

Botfly Stories. <http://vexman.com/stories.htm>.

Caesars botfly larvae removed from his ear (photo on right) 9.11.04 at 5 weeks.

Hello again Brenda,
I was looking at my botfly in my microscope and thought you might be interested
in seeing what I saw.
Caesar

Hello...
I bet you'd never stareted the whole BotFly thing..
I wonder if you can help..
My boyfriend and I are both diving instructors in Belize and he has a lump
on his head that just must be a bot fly lavae...everytime he dives he's in
pain as I imagine the lavae is freaking out...but we have tried the smoke in
the bottle and the vaseline method but it has not come out.
We reckon he's had it for about 3 - 4 weeks, is it too 'young' to be removed
or should we go for the superglue and the big squeeze
We are based on a desert island 32 miles off shore and visiting a doctor
isn't an option for at least a week and I don't think he can take the pain
much longer>.
Any advice would be appreciated..
By the, marvellous website!

Mary Gleeeson

July 30, 2005Hello Brenda,

My name is Brianne Rhoads and I have recently returned from a 3-week adventure in Belize. I was enrolled in a seminar last semester about the cultures/experiences/flora and fauna of Belize. The course ended with a three week trip to Belize to "experience our research." Interestingly enough during the course each student was required to give a presentation about a certain topic of Belize, mine was concerning parasites and other insects- including the beefworm/botfly- I must say that the research made not only my skin crawl, but also the skin of everyone else in the class; extremely disturbing.

While in Belize we were constantly reminded by the professors and myself(not to mention the natives) that they were out there and that we should take heed- I really wasn't worried b/c I had read that they were rare and my professors had brought over 100 students to Belize during the 6 trips and not a single student had ever reported harboring one of the little creatures. We tromped through the Wildlife sanctuaries, explored Mayan ruins and mangrove ecosystems, we snorkeled, and were amazingly happy all the way up to 2 days before our departure when our group was snorkeling and we got into "Pica Pica" infested waters. Pica Pica are microscopic jellyfish spawn that sting just as viciously as there full-sized parents- our bathing suits acted as nets for the critters and I was stung hundreds of times, they got into our hair and the stings covered our bodies- even after removing ourselves from the water and treating with vinegar- we could not get the pica pica to stop firing their nematocysts- they made my entire body itch and we were covered in hive-like sores around every sting- the following couple of days were absolutely miserable as we were forced to tape socks around our hands and cut all of our fingernails off in order not to scratch ourselves raw. We tried a number of local remedies but nothing seemed to work- some of the girls had such bad reactions that they had to get steroids - I refused as I am not a huge fan of prescriptions. They stings were extremely itchy/painful for about a week and a half and as my skin started to recover from the pica pica it soon began to crawl again as I realized I had something else…

My entire body had been itching for over a week- so at first I took little notice of the small bite on my upper right buttock that was not seeming to heal, but while I was changing into my work clothes one day I noticed the bite in my mirror. The bite was slightly swollen and I prodded at it and decided that it was just another mosquito bite that wasn't healing properly b/c of the constant irritation from me sitting down and walking (friction against the pants), it actually resembled something like a huge pimple. The next morning I noticed that the tissue around the bite was becoming inflamed and that the bite was slightly more pronounced- not to mention that about a six-inch area of my buttock was becoming tense to the touch. This condition continued for a couple of days and in the back of my mind I humored the thought that it could be a botfly, but I wasn't ready to admit it. After another day or two I started having sharp pains shoot down my backside and I had my roommate examine the bite- she said it looked like a fresh hole and was secreting ooze. We took some pictures with my digital camera so that I could get a decent look at it and it looked much like the bites described in the literature I had researched for my report. I called my professor and although amused he suggested I should probably have it removed if I really thought that it was a botfly larva.

It has been 2 days since I talked to my professor about my botfly; now named Alex Jr. after my long-term boyfriend b/c they are both a pain in my ass ;) , And the pain can be bad enough to make my eyes water and my whole body break out in goose bumps. Up until last night I was still slightly skeptical that it could be something besides a botfly- BUT Alex Jr. went into a particularly long set of movements causing me to have my roommate check the area (while my other roommate freaked out from across the apartment) and she said that it was oozing blood and another more translucent fluid- she cleaned the area with an antibacterial wipe and we decided to take a couple more pictures. As I assumed the position for picture taking, Alex Jr. started to move again so I stretched my neck to get a good look and so did my roommate and we both were horrified as a little off-white "thing" (we assume the tail) poked slightly out of the hole and back into the flesh. Although completely disgusted I am thinking about carrying the larva until it pushes itself out of the hole and prepares for pupation.

I have toyed with the idea of becoming an Entomologist (my current study is Pre-Med) and I am extremely amused by the situation I am experiencing, but I am also worried about any side effects that could take place. I have read that these bites will not become infected as long as the botfly is still inside the flesh and that scarring is minimal- but could there be any other side effects besides pain that I should worry about? I am planning on visiting a dermatologist or specialist (anyone that will believe me b/c it sounds from the stories on your site, that it is hard to get a doctor to believe you) but I thought I would ask you b/c you seem to have some experience with them. Your site has been a great help as far as support b/c I know I'm not the only person that has had one- and I appreciate you taking the time to read my e-mail. I will keep you posted on Alex Jr. and when he emerges- I will also send pictures if you so desire (I am going to be borrowing a camera that is better than mine for close-up photos of the warble).Thank-you for your website and any insight,
Brianne Rhoads

Thank you so much for you help.
Lesley

August 19, 2005

I work for a humane society animal shelter in Indiana.  One of the stranger things we see are botfly larvae in dogs and cats.  Believe it or not someone brings in an animal or calls with questions about once a week complaining about a "hole" in the animal.  From experience I can usually come to the conclusion on the phone what the problem is.  People are usually shocked, disgusted, freaked out, etc...when you tell them about this maggot burrowing its way into their pet.  Cats and kittens are the most affected in this area.  Or maybe its just that people notice them more on their cats and kittens rather than on their dogs.  I don't know, but, I do know that they need to be removed.  Surprisingly the pets don't seem to be in too much discomfort.  But, then again I wouldn't know because I've never had a warble. 

 

Anyway, I've developed my own way of removing them.  Working for a Humane Society you learn to do a lot on your own, rather than to spend your hard earned donations at the Vet's office.  My technique works rather well and usually within minutes the larva is removed.  I thought I would share in hopes that it could help people whose doctors are clueless and prefer to stay that way. 

 

Ok, well this is how I do it.  I have someone restrain the animal (obviously not necessary for a person).  Clean around the wound with alcohol or peroxide.  then, with a little syringe or eye dropper I apply peroxide directly into the hole as I patiently wait with my tweezers.  Alcohol can be used too, but I'd imagine that would sting a bit.  I continue to occasionally apply the peroxide until the little nasty larva comes sticking its body out.  Latch on with the tweezers and pull applying VERY SLOW but steady pressure taking care not to tear or pull apart the worm. 

 

From my understanding the peroxide smothers it.  It has to come out to breathe.  After reading the stories, I can see how Vaseline or something similar would work.  However, after removing so many of these from pets, I myself, would be un inclined to wait it out.  I'd be lying if I said I wasn't at least a little revolted by these creatures. 

 

Now don't get me wrong.  You have to "catch" it with the tweezers.  Those little boogers don't come all the way out.  They just stick a little bit out to get some air.  And you have to keep the area and the "hole" saturated.  I've been successful every time.  All the little kitties and doggies I've helped out have recovered with no side effects. 

 

Just thought this might help someone out (or at least save you from the frustration of arrogant doctors). 

 

With the best of luck,

 

Amber Welch

Amber,

Thanks for writing. I did not realize that we had botfly's in the United States. Maybe these are the rabbit botfly's? I am going to sending this link so you can read more about them. Seems some of these can get into the brains of animals. Sounds horrible and wanted you to be aware of it.   Here is the link   http://botfly.ifas.ufl.edu/links/links1.htm#insectlinks

 I talked with a cousin of mine that lived in Belize and they said it was common for the animals to get the larva's off the animals there. I like your technique though, seems the only thing the animal would not like is being held down for the wait to grab the larva.

 Thanks again for sharing and do you mind if I ad it to the site? I admire the fact that you work at an animal shelter and try to save the donations by taking care of things yourself. I love animals myself and try to do what I can to help them out.

 Brenda Johnstone

Hello Brenda,

 

We are doing an article that will feature human bot flies for FHM Lithuania magazine, NOV 2005.  I saw a few of your photos on the website, http://www.ambergriscaye.com/pages/town/botfly.html and I wonder if you would give us premission to use them, and maybe even send us high resolution versions, or at least, better resolution versions.  Our deadline to receive images is Thursday Oct 27

 

Thank you for your help,

 

Best,

 

Jenn Virskus

 

Photo Editor
FHM Lithuania
Laisves pr. 60
Vilnius 05120
Lithuania
Tel: 370 5 242 46 77

I replied:

Glenn, (WOW same name as my brother)
Thanks for emailing me. I had fun doing that website, and it amazes me the response I get from it.
We have had some very bizarre, interesting & gross emails because of the site.
I have become the "unofficial botfly" person to contact for any kind of information. I just recently helped someone remove a rabbit botfly larva from their pet bunny, so I do get some great gratification from it all.
It was a scary thing seeing Mark in so much pain, but tons of fun to look back on it and laugh now. Glad you got a good laugh from it as well. What prompted you to find the site anyway?
Thanks again, Brenda Johnstone

His reply:

Brenda, (WOW same name as my mother-in-law and no I won't hold it against
you... j/k)

So, what prompted me was a search to re-identify an insect that i saw when
standing in (soon to be my backyard) with my wife. We were enjoying the
sunshine by a head high lemon tree when what we thought was a hummingbird
flew in and hovered among its branches. Our discussion of how much we liked
the house was put on hold as we both looked at the backside of this tiny
"bird." Once it had its strange attention from us it turned and we saw a
huge insect with what we both (in our panic) said looked to have a humanoid
face... yea, i know. Anyway it should have served as an omen since during
the 17 years we have owned the home it has been a scene right out of
"Jumanji" only plug in rodents, insects, and arachniods instead. In fact,
one day i went into my son's room to find the ants and termites at war with
no more empty wall space over the size of a quarter in any given area. Oh,
and I plan to reread your story and laugh again today and maybe again
another day as well.

I replied back & gave them permission. I have not heard back from them since.

Yes, we have even more botfly stories that want to be told, so click here to read more horror stories.

If we get any more emails in the future I will post them. Thanks to everyone that has shared their botfly story with us. I am happy our site has been able to help others & hope it continues to do so in the future. Any questions or emails can be sent to brenda@gccs.net
Brenda Johnstone, webmaster

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