Myiasis of the Tracheostomy Wound Caused by Sarcophaga (Liopygia) argyrostoma (Diptera: Sarcophagidae): Molecular Identification Based on the Mitochondrial Cytochrome c Oxidase I Gene.
Wound myiasis is the infestation of open wounds of mammalian hosts caused by larvae of various species of flies. This kind of myiasis can be a serious problem for immobilized patients with open wounds. Here, we identify a dipteran larva found in the tracheostomy wound of a child affected by a severe spinal muscular atrophy. The collected larva was dissected and microscopically analyzed. DNA was extracted from part of the larva and used for the molecular identification. A 487 bp fragment, including part of 5.8 S, the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2), and part of 28S, was amplified using a novel PCR assay to be cloned and sequenced. The barcode region of cytochrome oxidase I (COI) was also cloned and sequenced after PCR amplification. The larva, designated as SASI1, was identified as a third instar of Sarcophaga sp. The COI sequencing confirmed a low similarity with Sarcophaga ruficornis (F.) (95%), yet COI showed a 100% similarity with Sarcophaga argyrostoma (Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830) species. Therefore, SASI1 was identified as a S. argyrostoma larva on the basis of its COI barcode. This is one of the rare cases of myiasis of tracheostomy wound and the first caused by S. argyrostoma.
Department of Infectious, Parasitic and Immunomediated Diseases, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.
Francesco
F
Severini
Department of Infectious, Parasitic and Immunomediated Diseases, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.
Emanuela
E
Nocita
Department of Infectious, Parasitic and Immunomediated Diseases, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy. fabio.tosini@iss.it.
Fabio
F
Tosini
D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009198:Myiasis / Q000469:parasitology*; D058493:Sarcophagidae; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000469:parasitology*; D014139:Tracheostomy
COI; ITS2; Sarcophaga argyrostoma; myiasis; tracheostomy