Flesh-Eating Maggots Found Inside Man's Ear and Eating His Eardrum: Rare Case Study

Flesh-eating maggots were found inside a Portuguese man's ear who complained to a hospital that he was experiencing bleeding, itching, and pain for several days already. This is according to a rare case study conducted by medical researchers in Portugal on aural myiasis, an infection caused by maggots or larvae of a fly species named New World screwworm fly (Cochliomyia hominivorax).

It is unclear how the 64-year-old man got myiasis but he was taken to the hospital in Portugal after suffering from the symptoms for five days. Doctors successfully managed to remove the maggots from the man's ear, where a part of his eardrum showed signs of being partially eaten. A follow-up checkup after seven days showed the absence of larvae on the patient.

Flesh-Eating Maggots

Details about the rare aural myiasis infection and the man's ordeal with the maggot infestation was published in The New England Journal of Medicine, where doctors at Hospital Pedro Hispano in the city of Matosinhos, Portugal, described the rare case. A physical examination of the patient showed "numerous mobile larvae" were blocking his ear canal.

The physicians used ear forceps to remove the New World screwworm fly's larvae by irrigating it with water The medical team also found that a small area of the man's eardrum showed signs of perforation or eaten by the larvae.

According to Catarina Rato, co-author of the paper and one of the doctors who treated the patient, said the characteristics of the larvae, which are cylindrical in shape and segmented with white yellow-colored body matched with the C. hominivorax fly species, as cited by Newsweek.

The New World screwworm Fly

The New World Screwworm is a primary parasite of warm-blooded animals. Prior to its eradication in North America and Central America, it caused a significant loss to livestock and animals. Its parasitic nature is evident through its larvae's survival on the living flesh of mammal and birds, according to the NAL Special Collections Exhibits of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The USDA adds that the damaging effects of the screwworm can be seen in domestic animals. The US government agency consider the fly species to be no longer a threat the country following its eradication programs not only in the US but also Mexico, Jamaica, and other countries in Central America.

Aural Myiasis

Larvae inside a human or an animal's may be beneficial for the maggots but it is detrimental to the health of the infected host, as was mentioned earlier.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), aural myiasis is the infection of a maggot in human tissue, which can occur in any parts of the body and in areas with tropical and subtropical climate.

In the US, myiasis cases are rare, especially after its eradication. However, the CDC says infections are still possible when international travelers get infected from other countries and return back home.