[Human cutaneous myiasis: a case report]

Abstract

Myiasis is a self-limiting infestion of tissues by fly larvae commonly referred as maggots. A case of cutaneous myiasis in a 61 year old woman admitted to the Department of Emergency of S. Giovanni Hospital in Rome (Italy) is reported in the present note. The patient, a religious sister, returned to Rome from a mission trip of few weeks in Edea (Cameroon, Africa), was suffering from a subclavicular furuncular skin lesion; one maggot was surgically removed and submitted for parasitological examination. Based on the maggot shape and size, the travel history and the clinical presentation, a maggot of Cordylobia spp. has been identified (Calliphoridae, Diptera). This case calls for an awareness of its possibility as a cause of furuncular skin lesion, particularly in subjects returning from an endemic country for Cordylobia spp. (Africa).