Worms In Your Eyes Watch Out

There are very few people you’ll find that actually like creepy-crawly animals. However, because most of these creatures are so small and obscure, we often don’t even know about many of them and how terrible they can be. Take the African Eye Worm, for instance. This creature will scare your socks off.

Also known as the Loa Loa Worm, the African Eye Worm is primarily found in West African countries. This nasty parasite infects millions of people each year.

The African Eye Worm can be passed onto humans from mago or deer flies, like the one pictured below. The worm larvae are transmitted through the fly bites, and feed on the blood of their human hosts. They typically reside under the skin, and are know to migrate to different places throughout the body. You often don’t even know the worms are there. Occasionally, the moving worms will cause itchy swellings below the skin.

Wanna know how the worms get their name? In most cases, they are not spotted until they journey across the host’s eye.

With one of these wiggly wormies in your eye, your vision won’t be impaired but it can cause severe pain and irritation.

There are a range of treatment options available for those infected with an African Eye Worm. The pharmaceutical diethylcarbamazine (DEC) is the preferred choice of physicians. However, surgery may be required to remove the worm in extreme cases.

It’s estimated that between 12 and 13 million people are infected with the eye worm at any given time in Western African countries. Yikes!