Problem with botfly...

[Julie200010]

My family of seven went on our first cruise in January, with stops in Grand Cayman, Roatan, Costa Maya and Belize. We had a great time cave-tubing, the whole family loved it! I put bug spray on my younger children, ages 8 and 12, and also myself. I told the others to use bug spray, but the 17, 22 and 24 year-olds didn't want to bother. On the way back to the ship, my 24 year-old daughter noticed three bites on her left shoulder. She has always been prone to bug bites, but these itched terribly, and continued to be quite bothersome for the rest of the trip. A couple weeks later, they were still red and itchy, so she saw a military doctor, who, without looking at the bites, put her on an antibiotic for two weeks. She went off the medicine four days ago, but the bites never healed. They had little holes in the middle, and she saw some movement in the hole. Freaking out, she went to the hospital, where X-rays were taken. The doctors and nurses all wanted to get a good look at her, as they had never seen bot flies before. She had to put a special bandage over them to suffocate the larvae, as they cannot be just taken out. She lives across the country from us, but at last report she called to tell us that two were out, with the largest still fighting to stay in. I'm not telling this for anybody not to go cave-tubing. Just wear bug spray, and don't listen to anyone who says otherwise. And have a great time! :)

[Bob7]

Hey Julie yer gonna scare the weenies! :-)

Thx for the info ... there is a big thread with lots of info and pictures about the botfly, titled "Botfly, Use Deet", down a few pages. A piece of meat like bacon will cut off oxygen to the larvae in the skin, and it will crawl out through the bacon for air, and when it's out far enough to grab with tweezers you can pull it out the rest of the way. The locals think it funny about us getting doctors to treat it, they know what to do and do it all the time.

So I guess we tell the ship doctor to keep a supply of bacon handy? ... or maybe he'll just send us up to the buffet :-)

-Bob

[steel123]

Thanks for the info. Does anyone know if this can occur near the coastline, i.e. the beaches/snorkeling.

[jetskier]

Thanks for the info. Does anyone know if this can occur near the coastline, i.e. the beaches/snorkeling.

 

This can occur anyplace you have mosquitos. The botfly lays an egg on the mosquito. The mosquito bites you and the egg is deposited. It then incubates and you now have a larvae trying to get out.

 

Dave

[Julie200010]

I am so sorry, I would never want to scare anybody. I did see the post about botfly a few weeks back, and I wish I had taken it seriously enough to insist every member of the family put sunscreen on. We have had a good laugh about the whole matter, although I don't think my daughter thinks it's so funny. The doctors didn't use the bacon method, instead they put a thick coat of vaseline over the holes to get the critters to come out. It did work.

That said, I would not hesitate to visit Belize, or go cave-tubing in the future. It was a safe, wonderful experience, and we had a great time. Thanks to the posts on this website, our whole trip was the best first cruise we could imagine. We look forward to next year!

[Scorpiorose]

I hear, and bought, skin so soft as a bug spray (I read that this is what the military use or recommend). Will this be enough for Belize? We'll be on the river so.....:eek:

[jetskier]

We used a product that contained 40% Deet and did not have any problems.

 

Dave

[Bob7]

Rose, Dave is right, DEET is the chemical that has been proven to repel mosquitoes and other pest insects. People have had good results with a 20-30 % DEET concentration, Muskol has 23 %, and I think Deep Woods Off has about the same. Heard some brand has 80. I've also heard about Skin So Soft being used, but unless it shows how much DEET is in it, I'd go with a real bug spray.

-Bob

[Scorpiorose]

Thanks Bob, I went and bought some 40% deet at walmart just to be on the safe side.....Better safe I guess!;)

[KathleenNC]

We were in Belize during our cruise on the Miracle in January. I'm not positive but I might have one of these suckers. If so - the problem that can happen is the mosquito can land on a DEET-less area. I had the stuff on but didn't put it into the ears. My suspicious lesion is in the outer canal but not far from the opening to the middle ear. Lovely, huh?

[crisp1]

A friend of ours just had to have one removed from his leg. They were in Belize for a week and spent most of their time at the beach. After hearing his story, I googled the botfly, and the first link was about a guy who had one on his scrotum. EWWWW!

[Jeepers385]

I just saw this thread and said I could relate. Two years ago this month we took a cruise and one of our port stops was Belize where we went cave tubing and had a wonderful time.

Here comes the story, sorry not short. This is before any dr's in my area knew anything about Botfly:

After a couple of days I noticed a bump on my rump and thought it was mosquito bite and didn't think much of it. About a week after we got home it got really red and sore. Went to the drs and they gave me an antibiotic but after another week it didn't get any better and was so sore that I had shooting pains that litterally stopped me in my tracks. Got an appt the same day and they sent me to a surgeon. Surgeon took a look didn't know if it was a cyst or tumor and had me in the hospital the next day. Gave me a local and as he cut me he said Deb your not going to believe this and had everyone looking at it and here this thing was burrowing into my skin. As soon as he took it out it was instant relief. He didn't know what it was and sent it to the pathologist who sent a report to both drs. When I went back to the first dr he got out all these books to show me how they didn't have all that much info on it. I actually gave him info that I got off websites to add to his collection. From now on I use bug spray with deet.

Debbie

[carallard]

Geez I'm at the office reading this and itching like crazy now! Do all bug sprays say if they have Deet in em or not?

[Maryandi]

I doubt that this botfly problem is only in Belize but this is where I've heard about it. There is ,also, the thread about the couple with the rash on their legs (it was suggested that it was poisonwood tree sap) from the zipline trip.

 

I have heard that if you want to give blood and tell them you went to that region that they won't take it. (not confirmed).

 

This is like some 'Indiana Jones' area and precautions must be taken. Thank goodness we all take time to post, it really helps others.

 

Hope you all have no more problems and thanks, MaryAnn:)

[Scorpiorose]

Go to Walmart (or for American friendly store shoppers) Big K (kmart) and go to the hunting section and there are very find quality deet bug sprays. Woodsman know what to get so I always go to the hunting section. It should say exactly deet on it somewhere and give a percentage. It's deet for us in Belize.:p

[Jeepers385]

I went to give blood and they turned me away due to the fact that in that time period I have been to Belize, Dominica and I think it was Costa Rica. They considered them 3rd world countries and told me I had to wait a 1 1/2 before I could give. I told them I had been on several cruises and how long are you really in those ports but they said it didn't matter, I actually had to write down all the places I had visited in a 2 year period.

Debbie

[Maryandi]

Thanksfor confirming what I heard. MaryAnn

[c_galle]

I doubt that this botfly problem is only in Belize but this is where I've heard about it. There is ,also, the thread about the couple with the rash on their legs (it was suggested that it was poisonwood tree sap) from the zipline trip.

 

I have heard that if you want to give blood and tell them you went to that region that they won't take it. (not confirmed).

 

This is like some 'Indiana Jones' area and precautions must be taken. Thank goodness we all take time to post, it really helps others.

 

Hope you all have no more problems and thanks, MaryAnn:)

 

Usually it isn't the country that you visit, but rather any medications that you would take from being there. Malaria meds are an instant no-no. I have been to several Third world countries in Africa and SE Asia, the only qualifier was Malaria Meds . Might of changed too.