Human oestriasis acquired in Florence and review on human myiasis in Italy

Myiases-causing flies are widely observed in tropical countries, whereas in Italy, a temperate country, their epidemiology and clinical presentation are poorly known. We report three cases of human conjunctival myiasis recently observed at our hospital, and the results of a review of the literature on human myiasis in Italy. In August 2012, a case of Oestrus ovis conjunctival myiasis acquired in the city centre of Florence, Italy was diagnosed at our hospital. In the early fall of 2013, two additional cases, acquired in the neighbouring areas, occurred. The review of literature showed that, up to the middle of 1990s, myiasis in Italy was mainly an occupational disease of shepherds, caused by O. ovis. Recently, cases of travel acquired furuncular myiasis emerged, together with “opportunistic” autochthonous cases of wound myiasis in patients with underlying health conditions. Considering the causative agents of human of myiasis in Italy, among the 703 autochthonous cases reported, 98.1 % were caused by O. ovis, while among the 42 imported cases described, 59.5 % were due to Cordylobia spp. and 40.5 % to Dermatobia hominis. Our findings suggest that O. ovis conjunctival myiasis may still be observed in urban setting in Italy. Health care providers should know and implement the basic rules of entomoprophylaxis for myiasis in the facilities where they are working and use these indications to educate patients and care givers in both pretravel care and geriatric outpatient settings. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00436-014-3906-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.