NEW YORK (AP) — An Oregon woman who had worms coming out of her eye is being called the first known human case of a parasitic infection spread by flies.
Fourteen tiny worms were removed from the left eye of the 26-year-old woman in August 2016. Scientists reported the case Monday.
The woman was diagnosed in August 2016 with Thelazia gulosa, a type of eye worm seen in the northern United States and southern Canada — but only in cattle.
The woman had been horseback riding in Gold Beach, Oregon, in a cattle farming area.
After a week of eye irritation, she pulled a worm from her eye. Over two weeks, doctors removed 13 more. She recovered.
The report was published in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.