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Invasion of the Bodysnatchers
The BBC News reported earlier
this week and is now making
headlines around the world of
when Tanya Andrews returned from
a recent family holiday in Costa
Rica, she had no idea she had
brought back a gruesome
souvenir.
A month later she developed an
extremely painful lump on her
head. At first, she thought she
had an abscess, but then it
wriggled.
At the Hospital for Tropical
Diseases they recognized the
problem straight away - it was
the living maggot larva of a
botfly.
While Tanya was enjoying her
holiday a mosquito had delivered
a tiny botfly egg onto the
surface of her scalp.
The egg hatched into a maggot
and burrowed deep inside.
Incredibly, this happens to
thousands of people every year.
The Costa Rican minister of
tourism said that the incident
is an isolated case and very
exceptional. The minister added
that the incident will not
affect tourists coming to Costa
Rica.
Costa Rican immigration
officials could not confirm if
Andrews was really in Costa Rica
and her arrival and departure
dates.
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