Tunga penetrants
From IDWiki
Tunga penetrans
- Chigoe or sand flea (the smallest flea)
- Lives in warm, sandy soils, often near animals (such as pigsties or stables)
- Endemic in Latin America, the Carribean, and sub-Saharan Africa
- Pregnant female invades the soft epidermis
- Remains embedded for up to 5 weeks, enlarging with time, and eventually the uterus pops out of skin
- Pruritic lesion
- Treatment is to excise it carefully
- Prevention is to wear shoes, or to put DEET on feet
