Glass houses, stones etc.

Bo is my best friend and I’m worried that no one has a clue what this is and my friends even think I might be losing my mind.

Plus it’s Thanksgiving weekend and nothing but vet techs that haven’t heard of such a thing (it’s obvious many Vets don’t learn much about this either from the dozens upon dozens of “Tick under dog skin?” queries on American info sharing web sites and the paucity of accurate responses from those who should know.

Note: my dog’s just fell out and I was naturally terrified still (wrongly) believing it was a tick. Not until I did a search through many dog parasites did I find a listing for “cuterebra” (genus name) in the Merck Veterinary manual online (guess what everyone: dogs & cats can — but don’t typically — carry “dermatobia hominis” which is why climate change should be of concern to every body who lives in the lower temperate zones.

also:

[From the Merck Vet Manual: (treatment section) There are anecdotal reports of larval rupture causing anaphylaxis. If possible, the larva should be removed in one piece; recurrent abscesses at the site of previous Cuterebra infestation suggest residual infection or remaining pieces of larva. The area should be thoroughly flushed with sterile saline, debrided, and allowed to heal by granulation. ]

Thanks anyone who can offer advice. Thanks Dave — sorry you had to go through that.

Matthew

Twelve in the head, one in the back following a month long Venezuela trip that was all backcountry stuff … thirteen in all. True story. The pain as they munched their way to glory in my head was truly special .… good times.

The usual story; doctor couldn’t figure it out, repeated visits, feelings of motion under the lumpy skin of my decidedly pineapple like head (they were all concentrated right side just back of the hairline), watery fluid etc. Visits to a dermatologist ensue, followed by overnight efforts at the vaseline treatment covered with a plastic bag (which didn’t work) and then sitting at the dermatologist next day with strips of the meatiest deli bacon I could find plastered to my head for a couple of hours. That must have done something because the doc then saw a breathing bubble as one of the little suckers took a gasp … and the fun began! the dermatologist poked a local anesthetic into the lump and then poked around with a scalpel before squeezing my head so hard I literally could feel the skull bending … and voila! a wiggling little worm was thrust in my vision covered with little scraps of tissue hanging from the hooks in its little body. It was about 4–5 weeks old at that point. the good doctor’s wife, also a dermatologist, came to watch the fun and held my hand as her husband continued with the massive brain squeezing for each and every one.

A few days later one last one was taken out of my back, but we were all old pros at this by then.

But the best part came when we later took the bacon and fed it to a friend. Naturally we only explained where it had been and what it had been used for afterwards. Ahhh … it was nearly worth it.

Anyway, great to have come across your site and realised how many other folks have had this problem. I still have three of the little suckers rolling around in alcohol at the bottom of a specimen jar somewhere. I should probably put them on the mantlepiece or something, but its not a story I really share very often.

I’ve since spent a lot of time in Venezuela in that area around Angel Falls but never got them again, so it could have been from bites in a more urban setting in those parts. Either way, if it happens again I’ll definitely try the vaseline once more. Sorry for the long post … been carrying this one around for a while.

In a way it sounds more like veruccas, which can have black pinpoints in the middle, and I picked up a couple on my trips thanks, no doubt, to communal showers.

If you want medical advice you’re best off finding your nearest tropical medicine center and giving them a call. If you describe your symptoms they can advise you best on the next step to take.