H4 Parasitic Arthropoda 



living maggots in the nostrils of sheep. These larvae promptly pass 

 up the nasal passages into the frontal and maxillary sinuses, where 

 they feed on the mucous to be found there. In their migrations 

 they cause great irritation to their host, and when present in numbers 

 may cause vertigo, paroxysms, and even death. Portschinsky in an 

 important monograph on this species, has discussed in detail its 

 relation to man. He shows that it is not uncommon for the fly to 

 attack man and that the minute living larvae are deposited in the 

 eyes, nostrils, lips, or mouth. A typical case in which the larvae 

 were deposited in the eye was described by a German oculist Kayser, 

 in 1905. A woman brought her six year old daughter to him and 

 said that the day before, about noontime, a flying insect struck the 

 eye of the child and that since then she had felt a pain which in- 

 creased towards evening. In the morning the pain ceased but the 

 eye was very red. She was examined at about noon, at which time 

 she was quiet and felt no pain. She was not sensitive to light, and 

 the only thing noticed was a slight congestion and accumulation of 

 secretion in the corner of the right eye. A careful examination of 

 the eye disclosed small, active, white larvae that crawled out from 

 the folds of the conjunctiva and then back and disappeared. Five 

 of these larvae were removed and although an uncomfortable feeling 

 persisted for a while, the eye became normal in about three weeks. 



Some of the other recorded cases have not resulted so favorably, 

 for the eyesight has been seriously affected or even lost. 



According to Edmund and Etienne Sergent (1907), myasis caused 

 by the larvae of Oestris cms is very common among the shepherds in 

 Algeria. The natives say that the fly deposits its larvae quickly, 

 while on the wing, without pause. The greatest pain is caused when 

 these larvae establish themselves in the nasal cavities. They then 

 produce severe frontal headaches, making sleep impossible. This 

 is accompanied by continuous secretion from the nasal cavities 

 and itching pains in the sinuses. If the larvae happen to get into 

 the mouth, the throat becomes inflamed, swallowing is painful, 

 and sometimes vomiting results. The diseased condition may last 

 for from three to ten days* or in the case of nasal infection, longer, 

 but recovery always follows. The natives remove the larvae from 

 the eye mechanically by means of a small rag. When the nose is 

 infested, tobacco fumigations are applied, and in case of throat 

 infestation gargles of pepper, onion, or garlic extracts are used. 



