Le Maggot

Le Maggot
Originally uploaded by michaelrickman.

An elderly Hong Kong man is being treated in hospital after doctors found he was being eaten alive by maggots, health chiefs said.

They said the 67-year-old could have been gnawed to death by the parasites had he not been rushed into care.

The grisly affliction is known as human myiasis, a rare disease that results from flies infesting wounds or sores.

Usually a problem for older people who have trouble looking after themselves, the flies lay their eggs in fresh or weeping wounds and sometimes even in the mouth, nose and ears.

The hatched larvae then feed from the rotting flesh, quickly spreading through the body.

In the latest case in Hong Kong, the maggots infested a number of cuts on the man's face.

Health officials urged carers and staff at homes for the elderly to be alert to signs of the disease, which has so far this year been detected in seven other people.