Hajar RoslanMost people come home from a holiday with souvenirs. Others come home with that, along with a host of disgusting creatures like maggots, worms and squid’s semen. If you’re the squeamish sort, I recommend you close this tab immediately and go on with life. If not, carry on…
Human host hunters
Image Credits: Geoff Gallice
Slow-moving botflies may not sound very dangerous, but you would probably squash them in seconds if I told you that their larvae could burrow holes in human bodies and have flesh for breakfast, lunch and dinner. These parasites are smart, however, by keeping a safe distance from your swatting hands. They lay their eggs on mosquitoes or flies instead of directly on human skin. Those who find themselves home to these parasites often suffer pain from the black barbs on the larva’s bodies which keeps them in place while they feed on muscle tissues. They do occasionally peek out to breathe, poop and to say “hi” to their generous hosts.
The woman in this video just got home from Belize. This clip shows the extraction of botfly larvae from her scalp. Warning: The video is downright disturbing.
Hold on – there’s more! Whoops! There goes your appetite for your next few meals!
Three feet-long guinea worms
Image credits: WIkipedia Creative Commons
When travelling around third world countries, ensure that you consume water only from safe water sources, or use a pipe filter. This next parasite enters the human body via contaminated water.
Here’s the good news (for you, at least): this bad boy can only be found in Ghana, Sudan, Mali and Ethiopia, so count your blessings. And here’s the disgusting news: it can grow up to three feet long inside the body, coming out through a burning blister and looking to lay its eggs. It’s a joyride at this point; once the head starts peeking out, you may need several weeks to slowly pull it out of your body inch by inch. God forbid you break the worm at any point – that may cause a fatal infection.
Not-your-regular hair bugs
Colorado native Aaron Dallas could not stop scratching his head after his holiday in Belize. He tried everything from shampoos to ointments, but the itching worsened and eventually came “alive”. He could feel and hear them move, and feel sharp pains on his head that sent him reeling. “Them” turned out to be maggots in a pit on his scalp, implanted by flies. These fly infections are fairly common in Central and South America.
Viewer’s discretion is HIGHLY recommended for this video.
This guy is not Aaron Dallas. This guy did not come back with this from a holiday. I just came across this on youtube and the sheer nauseating extent of this “maggots in scalp” video calls for some sharing. 😉
Your very own squid babies
South Korea is a hot destination for travellers at the moment, with their great shopping and excellent dining options. Now, before you tuck into that yummy seafood dish (especially squid), keep this episode in mind:
A woman’s indulgence in a partially-cooked squid in South Korea resulted in the mucous membranes of the insides of her mouth to become alive with spermatophores. Apparently, pods of semen had shot into her cavities when she bit into the squid, causing her mouth to become “impregnated”. This resulted in the growth of twelve white bug-like organisms shaped like a spindle. A sperm sac was also identified. This is not the only case – an unfortunate man also faced a similar incident.
This is a video of squids mating. There is a possibility that YOU become the complicit partner in this process (albeit in a different mating position). Squids can inseminate you. Will you take the risk?
Slithery tapeworms
Speaking of problems with eating semi-cooked or raw seafood, a Chinese sushi-lover was diagnosed with tapeworms infestation in his body after consuming contaminated sashimi. These slithery folks can grow up to 20 metres long in bodies, sometimes so big that you can see it slithering under your skin. They generally lounge in intestines and can feed for up to 25 years if undetected. So be mindful when dining at eateries with poor hygiene, unless you want some company for the next few years.
This is how a tapeworm looks like as it is slowly pulled out of an arm… and this is just ONE. Imagine the plight of that poor Chinese man. *shudders*
Pimples, I mean… skin maggots
Image Credits: Scoopnest.com
Mr. Ma’s “home sweet home” from his 6-month work trip in Africa came along with painful bumps and sores on his skin. The unsuspecting man took them for a pimple breakout but upon running a high fever, he soon realized it was no normal rash. Further inspection found the “pimples” to be a colony of African tumbu fly maggot which had made his skin their home. The bumps on his skin were in fact breathing tubes for these live, wriggling creatures. To be exact, there were a total of twenty (well-fed and happy) maggots extracted from under his skin. I’m pretty sure he would rather have had a bad case of pimples.
The sneaky spider
Image Credits: wineandsass.com
Mr. Dylan Maxwell is now nicknamed “Spiderman” by his friends, all thanks to a tropical spider that decided to take refuge inside him for 3 days during his vacation in Bali. The naughty little bug had crawled into a small appendix scar on Mr Maxwell’s body and managed to travel up his torso before being surgically removed from the navel.
Its a shame, really. If things had gone down differently, we could’ve had our very own Peter Parker.
Wriggly eyeball worms
Worms crawling in eyeballs are not reserved just for horror movies. It happens in real life too.
Travellers visiting tropical regions beware – this parasite may not be extremely harmful but will make you miserable all the same. A holidaymaker returning home from Cameron felt some movements in her eye one morning and a visit to the doctor revealed that the eyeball-dwelling friend is a wriggly worm. It happily cruised through her body up to her head to inhabit her eyes. It belongs to the Filarial family, and is mainly found in sub-Saharan Africa. These worms usually begin breeding from deer or horse fly bites and there are patients who can actually see it crawling across their eyeballs. Nightmare indeed.
Let’s just say that you do not want to be the one sitting on this surgery table.
Assassin bugs
Image Credits: Wikipedia Creative Commons
Thatched beach huts are romantic and all – until some thing tries to kill you. No I’m not talking about serial killers… though, on second thoughts, maybe I am.
Present in Central and South America, assassin bugs are known to cause heart failures and gut contractions which lead to intestinal tracts filling up with waste (full of shit, literally). It feeds on human blood from the eyelids or lips and then defecates to introduce a single-celled parasite into the bloodstream, leading to the potentially-chronic Chagas Disease.
Bloody bloodworms
Image Credits: fujiellena
This next worm is going to sound like a creature from a sci-fi movie. Bloodworms are common in slow-moving fresh water in sub-Saharan Africa and South America. Don’t be fooled by their small size, these little guys (and girls) can cause severe damages and complications to the human body. What usually happens is that these bloodworms will swim to a passing warm blooded host (read: humans) and penetrate the skin. They then reside in the bladder or intestines and grow and reproduce for the next 12 years or so. Simultaneously, these bloodworms will destroy the very organ they inhabit. Now, we’d like to say that these are rare cases but unfortunately, some 200 million people have had issues with this little terror, and a large portion of these cases are fatal.
After reading all that, staying home and never venturing out of your country might start to sound like a good idea. I hope you’re not discouraged to travel by these gruesome cases caused by little creatures. Rather, take precautions (whenever possible), and for the rest, cross your fingers and hope for the best. Also, kudos to all of you for making it through this disgusting article, especially those who took time to watch all the videos as well. SALUTE!
