The human parasite-eating monsters

Brain-eating amoeba, streptococcus, buffalo fly larvae, blue-green larvae, poisonous brown spider are 5 parasitic species that use human flesh as food or cause tissue damage, severe necrosis.

Top species of "cannibalism" parasites

Last week, an Australian man was infected with streptococcus , one of many cases of this bacterium in the world each year.

Streptococcus.(Photo: CDC).

Bacteria enter the body through open wounds, causing necrotizing fasciitis, quickly spreading the body's soft tissues, including the skin and muscles.

These streptococci are similar to the bacteria that cause other diseases such as typhus, impetigo (a skin infection), toxic shock syndrome and cell inflammation, according to the US National Institutes of Health. Another type of streptococcus is also the cause of strep throat, called strep throat.

Cochliomyia hominivorax carnivorous fly.(Photo: Iowa State University).

Cochliomyia carnivorous fly larvae hominivorax live in the Americas. Females lay eggs in the flesh or open wounds of warm-blooded animals, pets, the navel of newborn animals and even holes in the human body like the ears.

Eggs will hatch within 24 hours, using meat and body fluids of any host as food, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. The bodies of these larvae have small grooves, which allow them to drill deep into the host's body like a screw.

In 2013, a British tourist after returning to Peru brought these maggots home. First, she heard strange scratches inside her head, then terrible pain on one side of her face. After all the maggots were removed, her condition gradually improved, however, the ear canal was punctured.

Buffalo fly larvae.(Photo: Lyle Buss).

Unlike flies that eat meat, buffalo flies do not directly lay eggs on hosts, but through an intermediate host such as mosquitoes or mites. These species will spread buffalo fly eggs to the bodies of animals that warm blood like humans when sucking blood. The change in temperature between the two hosts will make the eggs hatch, entering the body through a bite or a burner.

The larvae will be under the human skin, inside a layer of skin under the tissue, eat body fluids for about 8 weeks before leaving to turn into adult flies. When in the body, larvae cause a condition called "furuncle myiasis " (furuncular myiasis).

The area of ​​the larvae will be swollen, inflamed and pus-filled. According to a 2007 study, it is easier to get the larvae out of the host to make them choke by applying nail polish to the entire infected area.

Brown spider causes necrosis.(Photo: Rick Vetter).

Some venomous spiders contain toxins that cause necrosis or destruction of living cells, typically spiders belonging to the Loxosceles group. The venom can cause blistering in the area around the bite, which may form an open wound or dead tissue, according to the Australian Museum.

These spiders are found in many parts of the world. The most common are brown spiders (Loxosceles reclusa) , living in some states in the South and Midwestern United States. However, according to the University of California's harmful parasitic management program, only 10% of these spider bites cause serious tissue damage and scarring. Wounds often worsen due to other clinical causes such as infections.

Brain-eating amoeba infection observed through a microscope.(Photo: CDC).

The small amoeba named scientific name Naegleria fowleri lives in clean, warm waters that specialize in eating human brains. It enters the body through the nose, passing through the sinus membrane into the olfactory bulb.

Here, it will reproduce and spread to the brain, causing the inflammation of the brain (primary amebic meningoencephalitis - PAM) , causing swelling of the brain and leading to death in most cases.

Only a few lucky survivors, like the 12-year-old Arkansas girl, were infected with cerebral amoeba when exposed to water in the park in 2012. At that time, she was one of the only three people to survive. after infection.