ABSTRACT
When fly maggots infest tissues of people or animals the condition is referred to as myiasis. Myiasis can be an important public health issue, but is a stand-alone event not contagious from patient to patient in a healthcare setting. Specific cases of myiasis are clinically defined by the affected areas(s) involved, such as traumatic (wound), gastric, rectal, auricular, and urogenital myiasis, among others. Myiasis can be accidental, when fly larvae occasionally make their way into the human body, or facultative, when fly larvae enter living tissue opportunistically after feeding on decaying tissue in wounds. Myiasis can also be obligate, in which the fly larvae must spend a portion of their life cycle in living tissue. Obligate myiasis is the most serious form of the condition and constitutes true parasitism. This chapter discusses the various fly species involved in myiasis, contributing factors, and ways to prevent or mitigate negative health effects from the condition.
