A case of intestinal myiasis - fact or fiction

Intestinal myiasis is the infestation of the human intestine with dipterous (fl y) larvae. In the case reported herein, a preserved faecal sample from a nineyear- old African refugee living in Tasmania, Australia, was submitted for routine parasitological screening. The specimen was found to contain fl y larvae, identifi ed as belonging to the the common bluebottle fl y, Calliphora vicina, a common species in Tasmania. It is unknown if this case was a facultative myiasis or a pseudomyiasis. This case demonstrates the diffi culties inherent in the differentiation of true intestinal myiasis and pseudomyiasis.