5 Bugs Doctors Fear the Most!

0:04 What if I were to tell you that in some places in the world,

0:08 the animal that you actually need to fear the most and the one

0:11 that could land you straight in a hospital

0:13 is nothing more than the common housewife.

0:16 These are the insects that doctors fear

0:18 the most because by the time their patients arrive,

0:21 parasites are breeding, infections are spreading, and organs are failing.

0:27 Today we are counting down the top five

0:29 bugs that immediately put doctors on high alert.

0:33 We start with the parasite doctors will recognize instantly.

0:36 Unfortunately, victims often do not.

0:39 That's because this parasite eats you alive

0:43 from a bite wound just below the skin.

0:46 The botfly.

0:47 Found throughout Central and South America,

0:49 this insect follows one of the most disturbing life cycles known to science.

0:53 Most insects reproduce by [music] laying their eggs on plants,

0:57 in soil, under the water, or in some cases in animal carcasses.

1:02 What makes the botfly so disturbing is that it

1:05 is one of the rare exceptions that prefers living tissue.

1:09 In the case of many botflies,

1:11 human skin creates the perfect environment for their reproductive strategy.

1:16 However, it doesn't start there.

1:18 By placing their eggs onto a bloodfeeding insect like a mosquito,

1:22 the botfly increases the chances of its eggs

1:25 and eventually its larvae ending up with the warm-blooded host.

1:29 Once the mosquito bites your skin,

1:31 the eggs will fall off from your body heat and there they will hatch and larvae

1:36 will then scurry into the hole created

1:38 by the mosquito where they can live for weeks.

1:41 Doctors and biologists fear the botfly,

1:43 not for how common they are, but for how specialized they become.

1:47 Their larvae don't like being removed and have

1:49 grown reverse barbs to lodge themselves within their victims.

1:53 A specialization that makes the removal dangerous if done improperly.

1:57 But the most unsettling part is that many victims are not even aware

2:01 of what's happening until they can

2:04 feel something wriggling around under their skin.

2:07 I once worked with a field biologist in the Amazon who

2:10 joked about naming the botfly that was living in his shoulder.

2:14 Out in the wild, the bigger fear isn't the parasite.

2:17 It's the infection they would get if parts

2:19 of the larvae broke off while trying to yank them out.

2:22 So, instead of risking hospitalization,

2:24 some biologists let the larvae grow under their skin and let it move around

2:29 and feed for weeks until it's finally big enough to crawl out on its own.

2:35 Let me just say for the record,

2:37 I am very grateful to have never had to name my own pet botfly.

2:42 Up next is the most feared arachnid in all of North America,

2:46 the brown recluse spider.

2:48 What makes it truly dangerous isn't aggression.

2:50 It's how easily it blends into our lives.

2:52 [music] And they can look so harmless like a regular

2:55 house spider that can quietly live in the same closets,

2:58 garages, and bedrooms that we do.

3:02 Found living throughout much of the United States,

3:04 the brown recluse is small, shy, and rarely confrontational,

3:09 which is exactly why most people never realize they've been bitten at all.

3:13 But its venom triggers something that doctors truly dread.

3:17 Delayed tissue necrosis.

3:20 That means the bite can seem minor at first,

3:23 only for the skin to begin dying and falling off in the days to come.

3:27 Doctors also fear brown recluse bites because they're

3:30 often misdiagnosed in early stages and in severe

3:34 cases destroy enough of the tissue that it

3:37 requires skin grafts and surgery to repair.

3:40 And once that necrosis begins, there is no stopping it.

3:44 Dead tissue doesn't heal itself.

3:46 It has to be removed or simply fall off on its own.

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4:48 All right, now back to the action.

4:50 Wo!

4:50 Honestly, if the brown recluse spider bite doesn't make your skin crawl,

4:54 just wait until you hear about this next bug.

4:56 The screworm fly is one of the most dangerous

4:59 insects that doctors encounter throughout tropical regions in the Americas.

5:04 This fly targets vulnerable body openings and wounds.

5:07 And here's another unsettling fact.

5:09 You won't even notice it.

5:10 Adult screwworm flies look like ordinary metallic green house flies.

5:14 They don't bite, they don't swarm,

5:17 and they don't announce themselves in any way.

5:19 Typically, it's just one female fly that finds

5:22 its way into an opening in your body, and that fly can lay hundreds of eggs.

5:27 And within 12 to 24 hours, those eggs will hatch.

5:31 Similar to the botfly, they don't feed on dead tissue.

5:34 They consume living flesh.

5:36 But unlike the botfly, it's not just one larvae, it's dozens.

5:40 Eyes, nasal cavities, surgical wounds.

5:44 Nothing is off the menu.

5:45 And this isn't just a meal.

5:47 It's an invasion that can turn quickly into a life-threatening emergency.

5:51 That's right.

5:52 Unfortunately, many people have died from screwworm infections.

5:56 The tissue is ravaged and in many cases can trigger severe infection or sepsis.

6:02 That's why regions where screw worms exist,

6:04 doctors don't wait for lab confirmation.

6:06 If they suspect an infection, they act immediately.

6:09 That's because they know this insect doesn't need to bite, swarm, or attack you.

6:13 Something that would register in the victim's mind.

6:16 All it needs is to find an open wound or a vulnerable body opening and infest.

6:21 All right, now we are getting close to the bug that doctors fear the most.

6:26 But before we reveal number one, we need to talk about the unsettling runner up.

6:31 This insect is colorful, widespread,

6:34 and even has a nickname that sounds harmless and almost affectionate.

6:38 The second worst bug that doctors fear the most is the kissing bug,

6:43 which is a species of an assassin bug that is found throughout Mexico,

6:48 Central, and South America.

6:50 And the species gets their name assassin because

6:53 in order to easily quench their thirst for warm blood,

6:56 they'll attack you while you're asleep.

6:58 And what makes this nighttime feeder even more unsettling is where it bites.

7:04 These bugs target the lips, cheeks,

7:06 under the eye, and your forehead while you're sleeping.

7:09 Almost like they're going in for a kiss.

7:11 Hence the name kissing bug.

7:13 When the bug feeds, it often depeates near the bite site.

7:17 That's right.

7:18 It turns your face into a toilet.

7:20 And the feces that it leaves behind contain

7:23 a parasite that causes a deadly disease known as chagus.

7:27 That's why the facial bites are especially concerning to doctors because

7:31 the closer the bites are to the mouth and the eyes,

7:34 the easier it is for the parasite to enter your body.

7:37 And when that parasite invades, it can lead to an infection that quietly

7:42 spreads and attacks your vital organs for years.

7:45 By the time a patient feels something is wrong,

7:48 the parasite may have already damaged the heart,

7:50 digestive tract, or vital organs.

7:53 All this to say, if you do know you've been bitten by a kissing bug,

7:57 you can actually seek preventative treatment.

7:59 That's right.

8:00 You can have a parasite screening.

8:01 If you find that you have the parasite that causes chagas,

8:04 you can actually take an antibiotic to cure

8:06 yourself of any long-term damage of this disease.

8:09 Now, I have been bitten twice by assassin bugs, and both times,

8:14 yes, I was tested and screened for the parasite that causes chagas.

8:18 Thankfully, neither occasion resulted in a positive test.

8:22 Okay, now it's time to reveal the number one bug that doctors fear the most.

8:29 You might not believe there's an insect more

8:31 fear than an assassin bug, but there is.

8:34 And its scientific name is derived from the Greek word meaning human eater.

8:39 And of course, that most feared bug is none other than the mango.

8:45 Found throughout the tropics of Africa,

8:47 this parasite is responsible for some of the most

8:50 intense and distressing cases of human parasite infection ever documented.

8:55 At a glance, it's about the size of an ordinary housefly.

8:59 If you saw one land nearby, you'd never think twice.

9:02 It doesn't sting.

9:03 It doesn't chase people or swarm them.

9:05 And you know what?

9:06 It doesn't even bite.

9:07 So, how in the world does this ordinarylook fly

9:10 land itself at the top spot on our list?

9:13 Well, unlike a botfly, which usually infest your skin, a single larvae per site,

9:18 mango flies commonly infect your body with multiple

9:21 larvae feasting on top of each other.

9:24 And oh boy, does this story turn nasty.

9:27 And it's a good time to state that viewer discretion

9:30 is going to be advised for the rest of this video.

9:33 The danger of the mango fly begins actually far away from your skin.

9:36 Females lay their eggs on your clothing,

9:39 towels, and bedding if left outdoors to dry.

9:42 When those items are worn or wrapped around your wet body,

9:44 the heat triggers the eggs to hatch,

9:46 and that's when they burrow directly into your skin.

9:49 At first, you may experience only a slight itch,

9:52 but then the pain will eventually develop and increase within a few days

9:55 into boil-like lesions that bubble up on your skin from the growing larvae.

10:00 And now comes something that I never,

10:02 and I hope that you never have to experience for yourself.

10:05 As the larvae mature, they create a small opening in the skin that allows them

10:09 to breathe and also drain out fluid containing blood and other waste products.

10:13 So, while the bug is literally eating you alive,

10:16 it's expelling out those feces right onto an open wound.

10:20 And then on top of that, it's not just one.

10:22 There's dozens of them all in one infected area.

10:25 Doctors fear mango flight cases because most

10:27 of the time the infestations can be widespread.

10:30 In severe cases, improper removal or delay treatment can lead to abscesses,

10:35 systemic infections, and of course, hospitalizations.

10:39 And what also makes the mango fly infection truly terrifying is just

10:42 how routine it occurs and [music] again and again to the same individuals.

10:48 These infestations are very common in subsahara and Africa.

10:51 And when doctors see multiple moving lesions on patients bodies,

10:54 they act immediately.

10:55 Removal of mango flies cannot be delayed

10:58 because [music] waiting only increases the damage

11:00 and the risk of infection and ultimately

11:02 the complications that can be life-threatening.

11:06 So there you have it.

11:07 Those are the bugs that doctors fear the most all over the world.

11:11 And I only hope that you learned something from watching this video

11:14 and that you never ever have to experience any of that firsthand.