Cutaneous myiasis among Jordanian soldiers in Sierra Leone

ABSTRACT

To highlight the routes of infection for cutaneaus myiasis in order to prevent it among Jordanian soldiers in Sierra Leone. A prospective study of 793 Jordanian soldiers among the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone was conducted, over a five-month period [May-September 2000]. A questionnaire outlining the major predisposing factors for cutaneous myiasis [an endemic tropical disease] was filled in by all soldiers. A total of 87 patients out of the 793 soldiers were infested with cutaneous myiasis [11%]. The major predisposing factors for cutaneous myiasis were Drying clothes on sandy ground and tents keeping them exposed for a long time, wearing incompletely dried clothes, not ironing clothes before wearing them, hanging clothes in shaded areas not exposed to bright sunlight properly and wearing them immediately within 24 hours of drying. Cutaneous myiasis is a communicable tropical disease. It could be easily prevented without systemic consequences