Diggin' Out Jiggers At The Dinner Table

[DiamondSmiles]

At the dinner table! I lost my appetite.

[Rusty666]

wow

[TwistedPrincess]

i never heard of a jigger and so i checked it out...

Tunga penetrans is known as the chigger, jigger, chigoe, bicho do pé or sand flea. The female feeds by burrowing into the skin of its host. The abdomen becomes enormously enlarged between the second and third segments so that the flea forms a round sac with the shape and size of a pea.

The impregnated female Tunga embeds itself in the skin under the toenails and fingernails of man - where the resultant sores may fill with pus and become infected. Others victims can be dogs, cats, rats, pigs, cattle and sheep.

The first evidence of infestation by this sand flea is a tiny black dot on the skin at the point of penetration. Because the flea is a poor jumper, most lesions occur on the feet, often on the soles, the toe webs, and around or under the toenails. A small, inflammatory papule with a central black dot forms early. Within the next few weeks, the papule slowly enlarges into a white, pea-sized nodule with well-defined borders between 4-10mm in diameter. This lesion can range from asymptomatic to pruritic to extremely painful. Multiple/severe infestations may result in a cluster of nodules with a honeycomb appearance.

Heavy infestations may lead to severe inflammation, ulceration, and fibrosis. Lymphangitis, gangrene, sepsis, the loss of toenails, autoamputation of the digits, and death may also occur. In most cases, however, this lesion heals without further complications.

Nonetheless, the risk of secondary infection is high. Tetanus is a common secondary infection that has reported associations with death.

The sand flea is normally found in the sandy terrain of warm, dry climates. It prefers deserts, beaches, stables, stock farms, and the soil and dust close to farms.

While both male and female sand fleas intermittently feed on their warm-blooded hosts, it is the pregnant female flea that burrows into the skin of the host and causes the cutaneous lesion. She does not have any specialized burrowing organs; rather, she simply attaches to the skin by her anchoring mouth and claws violently into the epidermis. Since this process is painless, it is thought that the flea may release some keratolytic enzymes. After penetrating the stratum corneum, the flea burrows to the stratum granulosum, leaving her posterior end exposed. The "black dot" of the nodule is this posterior end of the flea sticking out. The opening provides the flea with air and an exit route for feces and eggs. With its head in the dermis, the flea begins to feed on the host's blood and enlarges up to 1cm in diameter. Over the next two weeks, over 100 eggs are released through the exposed opening and fall to the ground. The flea then dies and is slowly sloughed by the host's skin.

http://www.jigger-ahadi.org/jiggers.html

only because i don't know how to make pictures post in order, i am posting 3 of the 4. the last picture gets it own post below.

[TwistedPrincess]

hungry?

[khathryn]

EEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWW!

[Orchid17]

Yuck

[collaredgirl65]

[DiamondSmiles]

Originally Posted by TwistedPrincess

i never heard of a jigger and so i checked it out...

Thank you for that, Princess. I never saw one until now.

I had heard of them, but, associated them with the southern part of the US where there are swamps.

I thought I had a couple of sand flea bites on my arms because when my niece and her family moved in, there was sand piled up from a swimming pool and there are some kind of insects, which are not mosquitos.

Something bit me in that yard though. Thank goodness my feet don't look like that!!! Never!!!!

I'll pass on the meal, thank you ;)

[insanity86]

These should not be confused with CHIGGERS, as they are in an above post. CHiggers do NOT burrow into the skin! Ive been bitten to pieces by chiggers on a couple different occasions (...florida).

"Chiggers, the immature stage of certain mite species, most frequently occur in overgrown brushy or grassy areas, especially where small rodents are abundant. Also, they may be congregated in shady, humid areas near stream banks, under or around trees, or in berry thickets.



The body’s reaction to digestive enzymes that chiggers use to liquefy skin cells causes the rash, intense itching, and misery that begins a few hours after they have fed. Chiggers tend to attach where the skin is thin, tender, or wrinkled, or where clothing is tight. They do not burrow into the skin, do not feed on blood, and do not carry diseases..."

http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef630.asp

[Pyramid_Head]

That was just fucked!