Gadflies live in almost every corner of the planet, in total there are more than 150 species of insects. In our country, 60 varieties are registered. Usually, gadflies lay their larvae in the body of animals, less often they get under the skin of a person. Dermatobia Hominis - "human gadfly" lives in the tropics (Mexico, South America, Argentina). In the temperate climate of Russia, Ukraine and countries former USSR the insect was not seen.
An adult is a special type of fly up to 20 mm in size. Dermatobia Hominis looks like a small bumblebee: shaggy body and bright orange color. The gadfly has a rather large head with pronounced large eyes, an abdomen of blue color, transparent small wings.
Insects living in our latitudes usually have a calmer color: dark brown or jet black, gray-blue. They prefer livestock as a host, but it happens that when they bite, they also infect humans.
An adult individual does not feed, the supply of nutrients obtained at the stage of development of the larva is enough for the entire life cycle.
The larva after birth is very small. During the period of the phase, it grows several times, reaching 2 cm. Its body has an elongated teardrop shape. Special hair-hooks allow it to gain a foothold on the skin of animals or humans.
One adult female is able to reproduce up to 650 eggs, but only 20% are viable.
A species of dangerous gadfly that lives in southern countries. How does the gadfly larva enter the human body?
A gadfly larva can enter the human body in several ways:
More complex forms may also occur, when there are several larvae in different zones human body.
Stages of development of the larva
In the photo - a small gadfly larva, extracted from the human body. Is it possible to get infected with a gadfly larva in Russia?
In the territory Russian Federation insects of this family dangerous to humans No. However, there are cases of infection with common larvae. This happens in close contact with animals - cows and horses.
Symptoms of the appearance of a gadfly larva in a person
The general well-being of a person infected with gadfly larvae worsens: nausea and dizziness, weakness, fever, burning in the affected area appear.
If the larva is in the eye, then tearing, redness, increased eye pressure, and less often bleeding are observed.
Less commonly, there is a focus of development in the nasal cavity, which is evidenced by pain, headaches, and swelling.
Diagnostics
What harm do gadfly larvae do to humans?
The larva of the gadfly, deposited in the human eye, threatens with complete blindness.
It is very important to eliminate the pest on early stage development to minimize complications.
How and what to treat?
Contact can lead to infection. Dermotobiasis - infection caused by the activity of the larvae.
Removal of the larva can be carried out in two ways:
- surgical;
- medical.
The larva crawls out from under the skin in the leg. After extraction, the wound is treated, and then bandaged with a sterile napkin.
Extracted larva and skin lesions. How to protect yourself from gadfly larvae?
To avoid infection with a gadfly larva, it is necessary to observe simple rules:
- On a trip to southern countries, where insects dangerous to humans live, it is necessary to take special insecticidal agents that repel flies (sprays, ointments, creams).
- Protective clothing and mosquito nets will help avoid contact with the fly.
- Avoid contact with insects in nature and in other places of accumulation of gadflies, for example, on a farm, in a village.
The gadfly larva can bring quite a few health problems if you do not see a doctor in time. It is important to know that at the first symptoms, an examination and consultation with a doctor is necessary. Independent actions in this case are not allowed.
Myiasis is a disease caused by fly larvae that are common in Africa, New Guinea, California, Mexico, and also South America. This disease got its name in the 19th century thanks to the work of a priest named Frederick Hope. A person can become infected with myiasis only in favorable conditions for flies, namely, unsanitary conditions, by eating low-quality, semi-decomposed foods, working on the ground, where fly eggs can also fall.
causative agents different kind Myiasis is considered to be the following types of flies:
- tumbu fly or Cordylobia anthropophaga;
- sand flea or Tunga penetrans;
- Wolfart fly or Wohlfahrtia magnifica;
- Russian gadfly;
- sheep gadfly.
Depending on the place of introduction into the human body, myases are divided into the following groups:
- superficial;
- deep;
- cavity.
Superficial myiases
This type of disease is provoked by the larvae of such flies:
- meat.
- carrion.
- cheese.
- room.
- brownies.
deep myases
Deep myases are usually referred to as:
- ordinary deep myiasis;
- African myiasis;
- South American miaz.
cavity myiasis
This group includes myiases, the pathogens of which prefer to settle:
- in the mouth.
- in the ears.
- in the organs of the genitourinary system.
- In eyes.
Ingestion of fly larvae due to the consumption of low-quality food provokes intestinal myiasis. Typical symptoms for this type of disease are:
- nausea;
- vomit;
- diarrhea;
- blood in faeces.
The occurrence of myiasis of the genitourinary system can be caused by elementary non-compliance with the rules of personal hygiene (wearing dirty linen). Thus, the larvae penetrate the organs of the genitourinary system, provoking symptoms:
- vulvitis.
- vaginitis.
- urethritis.
- cystitis.
Timely diagnosis of the disease and the provision of qualified medical care is the main guarantee of successful treatment of myiasis.
First you need to consult a dermatologist. In severe forms of myiasis, the help of a surgeon may be required.
Cutaneous myiasis can be diagnosed by examining a patient's purulent wound with a magnifying glass under bright light conditions. Intestinal myiasis can only be detected by examining the patient's secretions. Miases in the organs of the genitourinary system can be detected by a gynecologist when analyzing a smear taken from the genitals. An ophthalmologist will help diagnose myiasis of the eyeball.
Treatment
Intestinal myiasis is treated with anthelmintics. Sometimes gastric lavage is required. When the larvae penetrate the organs of the genitourinary system, the doctor prescribes local therapy with antibiotics or antiseptics. Removal of pathogens that are based in the eye area is carried out under anesthesia. Then the patient should wash his eyes with a weak solution of soda for several days.
As rehabilitation measures, the patient is shown to drink plenty of water, the use of special ointments (for skin myiasis).
Forecast
The consequences of most myiasis are usually favorable for the patient, since over time the larvae themselves leave the host's body in order to continue self-propagation in the soil. Under the condition of timely diagnosis and qualified medical assistance, most superficial myiasis resolves without complications. However, deep myiasis can cause dysfunction internal organs, blindness, and even death.
Prevention
To avoid such an unpleasant disease as myiasis, one should strictly adhere to the rules of personal hygiene and food hygiene. Bed and underwear should be washed with disinfectants in hot water. It needs to be dried fresh air. As an additional security measure, iron it.
Before eating, food should be thoroughly washed under running water, subjected to heat treatment. It is advisable to peel them. Spoiled meat or vegetables should not be eaten. Food must be stored in the refrigerator. It is advisable to eat food in the house, and not in the fresh air, where insects have access to it. It is advisable to buy food not from the hands, but in stores where the meat is stored in a closed refrigerated display case and undergoes sanitary control before it hits the counter.
Open wounds need to be treated antiseptics immediately after they occur. Better yet, see a doctor right away.
Being at the first stage of their development, the larvae are constantly in the body of their carrier. With the approach of the second phase, before the molt itself, they find themselves in the back area. During this period, nodules with fistulas - outlets will be visible on this part of the animal's body. Thanks to them, the larvae of the gadfly, which are under the skin, get the opportunity to breathe, and after a while they go out through these very holes.
Harm to livestock
The breeding cycle of the bull gadfly begins around June and ends in September. At this time, fertilized females are especially active, being in search of a potential victim.
On a note! Gadfly larvae secrete a special toxic substance - hypodermotoxin. Together with the meat and milk of an infected animal, it can enter the human body, causing Negative influence to health!
Fistulas that speak of the presence of hypodermatosis can be found on the body of animals from the last month of winter to the middle of summer. At the same time, the larvae are able to exist in their capsules for quite a long time - about 1-3 months. After emerging outside, they fall to the ground, usually in dung, where they turn into pupae.
On a note! At the same time, even insects that have fallen out to pupate are dangerous - only 10 larvae, which are at the third stage of their development, can infect about 40% of the livestock!
Consequences
Infection with a subcutaneous gadfly leads to the following consequences:
- In cows - a decrease in milk yield by about 7%.
- Juveniles have stunted growth.
- For the leather industry, the skin of animals that have suffered hypodermatosis has holes that spoil the raw leather.
- For the meat industry - the capsules in which the larvae developed must be removed, which is why enough is lost. a large number of meat, sometimes with a strong infection it is necessary to cut out about 10% of the raw materials.
Prevention
In order to prevent the spread of bovine gadfly, animals must be periodically examined for the presence of fistulas.
- In the period from March to May, it is advisable to carefully palpate the backs and lower backs of cows and horses - this technique will allow you to detect subcutaneous nodules in time.
Important! If nodules are found, contact your veterinarian immediately!
- For prevention purposes, at the end of summer or at the beginning of autumn, cows and horses are treated with special preparations, the action of which is aimed at destroying the larvae that are at the first stage of development. Moreover, absolutely all livestock is processed, including animals that are the property of individual owners.
- In order to prevent the penetration of gadfly larvae under the skin after their emergence from eggs, it is recommended to graze animals during the grazing period until 10.00 and after 18.00. V daytime it is desirable to keep cattle under sheds or indoors.
Danger for pets
Gadfly larvae can also appear in a dog. The most likely sites of infection in this case are areas where tall grass grows and there may be a sufficient population of rodents.
Treatment
Prevention
If your pet has weak immunity, then infection with the larvae of the subcutaneous gadfly can occur annually. To prevent this, you can resort to the following preventive measures:
Human danger
In addition, as a result of its vital activity, the larva of the subcutaneous gadfly provokes the development of dermatobiosis. This disease manifests itself in the form of nodes that occur in the area where the insect is present. These nodes can become inflamed and cause suppuration. After some time, mature individuals leave the body of their carrier.
Prevention
Preventive measures are quite simple:
- being in countries where Dermatobia hominis lives, it is advisable to use drugs that protect against insect bites;
- at the same time, it is desirable to wear clothes made of dense fabric with long sleeves and full trousers.
If a bite site is found, it must be treated with an antiseptic and seek medical help.
Among over 150 species of gadflies, only one, called Dermatobia Hominis, is dangerous to humans. It cannot be found in Russia and the CIS countries - the insect is found only in countries with a tropical climate: Central America, Argentina and in some parts of Mexico. A gadfly larva in a person can cause a lot of unpleasant phenomena: inflammation, suppuration, disruption of the normal functioning of body systems, and surgical intervention may be required to remove it.
How can a larva enter the body?
An adult gadfly is a fly, the size of which does not exceed 18 mm. It has a large head with large eyes located on it, a blue abdomen, orange-colored paws and transparent wings. Because of the hairs all over the body, the gadfly resembles a bumblebee.
An adult insect throughout its brief life does not feed on anything, but uses the nutrients accumulated in the larval phase.
30 seconds after the exit, the adult gadfly becomes capable of flight and reproduction. One female can produce up to 700 eggs, but the larva appears from only 1/5 of them.
Female human gadfly with eggs
The female catches mosquitoes, ticks and almost 40 species of other blood-sucking insects and lays eggs on their abdomens. At the moment when the insects land on human skin, the larvae, feeling warm, hatch from the eggs and move to the skin, into which they are subsequently introduced. Penetration into the body is not accompanied by any painful sensations, and most often remains unnoticed by a person.
About 6 species of gadfly are common on the territory of Russia, and all of them prefer to choose cattle or horses as their host. However, cases are occasionally recorded when larvae are found in humans - in the eyes or under the skin.
The larva can penetrate into any part of the human body: arms, legs, chest, head. However, most often she chooses legs, back and armpits. Sometimes the larvae settle in the eyes and nose.
After some time, the area of the skin becomes inflamed, sore, swelling of a bluish or reddish tint appears. An abscess is formed, which after a while opens up. Due to this, a hole is left in the skin, which provides the larva with air flow. When the abscess opens, pus comes out of the wound.
Gadfly larvae in the human body cause a deterioration in well-being: vomiting, dizziness, muscle pain and fever appear. At the site of the focus of inflammation, movement under the skin can be felt.
Important! Not detected in time, the larvae are able to penetrate the vitreous body or the anterior chamber of the eyeball, and this is fraught with partial or complete loss of vision.
Upon contact with the nose develops headache, the sense of smell worsens, appear in the nose pain sensation, swelling of the nose and mucous membranes is formed. The larvae can even go out through the nostrils.
What harm do they do to the body?
Possible complications - the development of a secondary infection.
How is a larval infestation treated?
The disease caused by the larvae of the human gadfly has a name - dermotobiasis.
Diagnostics
To diagnose the disease, a blood test is used to determine the amount of antibodies. The patient will be asked if he has been to places where the disease is spread. A visual inspection is also used, during which a purulent abscess with a hole is found on the skin. The doctor examines the focus of inflammation with a magnifying glass.
Medical treatment
Extraction of the larva
After successful completion of the procedure, an antiseptic bandage is applied to the damaged area of the skin.
When traveling to countries with a tropical climate, you should take precautions: wear protective clothing against insect bites, use repellents. If the bite of a blood-sucking insect could not be avoided, it is necessary to carefully treat the wound with a disinfectant, monitor its condition and consult a doctor at the slightest deviation from the norm.
Features and habitat of the gadfly
As a rule, medium-sized flies are called gadflies, there are three families (which, in turn, have additional varieties, about 150 species) - gastric, subcutaneous, abdominal.
Thus, the prevalence of gadflies is extremely wide (of course, warm or temperate climate, as for almost all insects).
Some species gadfly in the photo - insects quite interesting, as they have huge colored (from bright green to poisonous yellow) "eyes".
However, in real life much harder to see this beauty in view small size arthropod. The flight speed is low, with the approach of the gadfly, you can hear a quiet high sound.
Needless to say, this beautiful fly can cause great harm to human and livestock health.
but fight insect gadfly it is not so difficult - it is enough to timely and competently approach the disinfestation of the main places of cattle walking and the accumulation of these arthropods, and they gather for mating mainly in the same places every year.
Given that the treatment of the area is carried out with the help of hazardous chemicals, you should not do it yourself, so as not to harm animals and people.
Care and lifestyle of the gadfly
Gadfly - insect, which comes to the image of an adult through a complete transformation, starting from an egg, it transforms into a larva, then remains in the form of a chrysalis and only then becomes an adult imago.
As a rule, a full cycle lasts about a year. Despite this, the fastest stage in the life of a gadfly is the exit from the chrysalis, which occurs in a few seconds, after which the insect is almost immediately ready for independent life and procreation.
In general, the life cycle, especially the first stages, of development depends on the species. For instance, insect stomach gadfly: horse or the donkey eats its larvae laid by the females on fodder plants, or directly into the animal's hairline, from where the larvae then reach the esophagus.
Moving through the body of the host, the larvae make channels, which makes the animal feel severe discomfort, itching and negatively affects the quality and density of tissues in the body, which can be life-threatening for livestock.
Together with waste products, already mature larvae come out, which will continue the life cycle on their own.
The most common type is subcutaneous gadfly, which can be found anywhere in the world, except for places with constantly sub-zero temperatures.
The female clings the eggs to the hairs on the body of cattle, after which insect gadfly in the form of a larva penetrates under the skin of the animal.
Before molting and moving to the next stage of formation, they make holes in the body of the carrier through which air enters them, and, subsequently, leave the body through the same holes.
In the photo, gadfly larvae on the body of a cow
Gadfly - insect, bite which can also cause great harm to human health. So, there were cases when the larvae reached the human brain, which led to death.
The last way for a gadfly to get into the body of a person or animal is to be placed there by the female directly through the nose or eyes.
The larvae move inside the skull, settling in the eyeball, eyelid or mucosa, leaving channels and miasma behind them.
Gadfly nutrition
The larvae feed on their carriers, while adult gadflies do not absorb food at all. Their mouth is reduced.
The body is nourished by substances that the gadfly intensively accumulates while in the larval stage.
That is why, in the form of an adult insect, gadflies spend very little time - from 3 to 20 days, losing a significant part of their mass every day.
If the weather is cold, gadflies try not to fly, conserving energy, in which case their life can last up to 30 days.
Reproduction and life expectancy of the gadfly
It has been observed that males and females spend the mating process in the same places every year.
After this process, the females immediately fly away, in search of an animal - the future carrier for their eggs. Female behavior different kind differs significantly.
For example, a string flies over the herd and at the same time makes sounds audible to animals, because of which they worry and try to leave the insect's hunting zone.
The female esophagus - on the contrary, tries to sneak up unnoticed - she does this by short flights or on foot, laying 5-20 eggs per hair.
Harmful females gadflies and gadflies very prolific, therefore, even with a small number of insects, they will be able to ensure the continued existence of the species. Preferred laying sites are usually rich in abundant undercoat.
The development of the gadfly begins in the egg, where the larva of the first stage is formed, which takes from three days to a week, the ideal temperature is 32 ° C, with which the larvae appear from almost all of the eggs.
After their appearance, wanderings through the body of the host begin, the exact direction depends on the type of insect.
Depending on the intensity of nutrition inside a foreign organism, the larvae can reach a measurement of 15 mm.
At the second and third stages of the baby's development, oxygen is needed, so they go back - closer to the skin and make holes for air to enter.
Then a capsule is formed around them, in which further formation takes place. Upon completion of this stage, through the same holes, the larvae leave the body of the animal and fall on the ground, where pupation takes place, which takes from one to seven days.
The development of the pupa depends on external conditions. environment, most often the pupal stage ends after 30 - 45 days. Gadflies give offspring only once.
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