A man became 'pregnant' with flies after dozens of larvae hatched in his eye.
Doctors were forced to use triceps to remove the botflies which were found squirming around his cornea, according to a report in New England Journal of Medicine.
The 53-year-old patient had gone to hospital after complaining of an itching sensation that refused to go away.
The man, from France, told doctors he had been gardening near a farm that had horse and sheep before feeling something enter his eye, the Metro reports.
Upon further examination, medics discovered ‘more than a dozen mobile, translucent larvae’ in the whites of his eye, the membrane lining the eyelids and also his cornea - the outer layer of the eye.
Botflies, also known as Oestridae, grow inside animal's flesh, usually sheep or other livestock. The flies lay up to 500 eggs on mammals or places where they sleep - and can even end up in the gut if licked.
The man was diagnosed with external ophthalmomyiasis or rather 'an infestation of the outer structures of the eye by fly larvae', according to the University Hospital of Saint-Etienne.
Doctors used forceps to pluck each one out, but luckily the man was completely recovered by his check-up appointment 10 days later.
What are botflies?
Botflies can be quite nasty as they grow in their host - either in a blister under their skin, or in their gut.
They can occasionally grow inside humans, but most species affect horses, sheep, deer and sometimes cats and dogs.
Young larvae penetrate the skin of cattle and can stay there for several months. The grub becomes a pupa and then a fly to deposit more larvae.
Some even enter the nostrils or sheep or deer which can result in a condition called blind staggers disease, causing the animal to move with an unsteady gait.
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