Fatal Myiasis Caused by Calliphora vicina in Hermann’s Tortoise (Testudo hermanni)

Knotek Z. , O.A. Fischer , V. Jekl , Z. Knotková: Fatal Myiasis Caused by Calliphora vicina in Hermann’s Tortoise (Testudo hermanni) Acta Vet. Brno 2005, 74: 123-128. An extensive myiasis was observed in an adult male Hermann’s tortoise (Testudo hermanni) with a missing distal part of the right forelimb and an exposed right humerus. Haematological examinaton indicated very low haemoglobin levels (37.00 g/l), low packed cell volume (PCV = 0.17 l/l), significant leucopenia (WBC = 2.75 G/l), an extremely low glucose concentration (0.64 mmol/l), hyperuricaemia (519.9 μmol/l), and a high ALP (30.10 μkat/l). Forty-three blowfly larvae were removed from the wound with a pair of foceps, using a lavage with saline and lowconcentration povidone-iodine solution. The remaining part of the humerus was surgically dissected from the humeral girdle. Necrotizing edges were removed and the opening to the body cavity was closed with sutures. After the surgery was completed, the tortoise responded poorly to external stimuli and died 12 hours after the surgery. A post-mortem examination of the body cavity revealed only an enlarged, ochre coloured liver and no pathological changes could be detected in the other organs. A histological examination diagnosed steatosis and toxic necrosis of the hepatic parenchyma. Twenty-three larvae were kept on 20 g of beef at room temperature. Twenty puparia were available after 7 days. After 20 – 21 days, 19 fly imagoes (5 females, 14 males) were obtained and identified on the basis of their morphological features as the blowfly (Calliphora vicina Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830; Diptera: Calliphoridae). It is the first case of fully documented fatal reptile myiasis in the Czech Republic. Reptiles, hepatodystrophy, intoxication, Diptera, Calliphoridae Although cases of wound infestation with fly larvae have been reported in humans as well as many animal species including reptiles (Jacobson 1983; Delhaes et al. 2001; Frye 1991), there have been only few papers dealing in detail with the scope of host tissue impairment (Barnard and Durden 2000; Sales et al. 2003). There is only a limited amount of information on exact taxonomic classification of agents causing myiasis in reptiles available (Barnard and Durden 2000). Myiasis caused by blowfly larvae (Lucilia ampullacea, Villeneuve) in tortoise Testudo graeca in Italy has been described (Principato and Cioff i 1996). The larvae were found in a fold of healthy skin under the carapace next to the wounded leg. The maturation of the larvae from the first to the third stage took 3 days (at a temperature of 29 °C and relative air humidity of 80%) (Principato and Cioff i 1996). Myiasis in two Testudo hermanni tortoises caused by Calliphora vicina blowfly larvae in Spain has been reported by Sales et al. (2003). Both blowfly species occur in the Czech Republic including Brno and surroundings (Fischer 2000). Larvae of some fly species mature in foodstuffs, others on animal waste, in wounded parts of animal bodies, or on animal cadavers. Blowfly females depositing eggs on skin, natural body openings or wounds cause myiasis. Eggs are deposited in the host body and their development is fast. According to Anderson (2000), the maturation from egg to the first stage takes between 22.5 ± 0.2 hours to 36.0 ± 4.0 hours and the whole life cycle from egg to imago stage between ACTA VET. BRNO 2005, 74: 123-128 Address for correspondence: Prof. MVDr. Z. Knotek, CSc. Avian and Exotic Animal Clinic, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno Palackého 1-3, 612 42 Brno, Czech Republic Phone: +420 541 56......... Fax: E-mail:[email protected] http://www.vfu.cz/acta-vet/actavet.htm