NATIONAL NEWS - After making it through an unbearable week of pain and discomfort, Muldersdrift resident, Gary Marais, spoke to the Krugersdorp News about his mango fly experience.
While many might think that only animals can fall prey to this painful infestation, they need to remember that humans are just as at risk as any other species. During the past few weeks, the News received a number of reports about local residents being infected with mango flies.
“On Friday, approximately two weeks ago, my back started itching. After assuming it was nothing serious, I just left it. On the Monday morning, it got very itchy, and I thought a few fleas had bitten me,” he said.
Another resident, Bernadette Opperman, extracted 23 larvae from herself. Photo: Submitted.
“About two days later these ‘bites’ started looking like boils, and I remember thinking that it might have been a spider.”
On Thursday he made a doctor’s appointment after discovering that black holes were forming within each of these ‘bites’.
“I just experienced this continuous itch. It was burning and hurting so badly as well – all of the time. The doctor gave me some antibiotic cream as he wasn’t really sure what these ‘bites’ were,” Gary said.
According to him, the pain and discomfort were unbearable the following day. He then asked his wife, Kathleen, to extract the black part which was forming in the middle of the ‘bite’ with a needle.
“We were absolutely shocked when my wife pulled out a two- to three millimetre long larva. The antibiotic cream had obviously suffocated it, which made it possible to get out,” he explained.
