An Intact 'Pari' Found in Colonoscopy... Even US Doctor Calls It a "Mystery"

The route of entry is unknown
"Eggs attached to lettuce may hatch after passing through intestines"

In the United States, a fully intact fly, appearing alive, was found inside a patient's colon during a colonoscopy, causing astonishment. It remains unclear how the fly entered the patient's body and how it managed to avoid stomach acid to reach the middle section of the colon.

[Photo by American Fire Protection Association Journal]

According to foreign media including The Independent on the 23rd (local time), medical staff at a university hospital in Missouri recently discovered a fully intact fly on the wall of the transverse colon, a part of the colon, during a colonoscopy of a man in his 60s, Mr. A.

Professor Matthew Bectold of the Department of Gastroenterology at the University of Missouri Hospital, who conducted the examination, told The Independent, "The fly was attached inside the patient's colon," adding, "We, along with other doctors, poked it with an inspection tool to check if it was dead. The fly was definitely dead."

He continued, "If the fly had entered through the patient's mouth, it would have been decomposed by stomach acid and would not have remained intact," adding, "The fact that the fly was found in the colon itself is a mystery."

It is still unknown how the fly entered Mr. A's body. Even if the fly entered through the mouth and avoided stomach acid, it would be difficult to reach the middle section of the colon, which is dark and curved, without light.

Mr. A reportedly had not experienced any particular symptoms until then, and he visited the hospital for a routine health checkup. He stated that he had taken bowel preparation medicine for the colonoscopy and had not eaten anything the day before, except for pizza and lettuce two days prior to the examination.

Professor Bectold suggested, "The only plausible explanation might be 'myiasis' (myiasis)," adding, "There could have been fly eggs or larvae on the lettuce the patient ate before fasting, and those eggs might have survived, traveled down to the intestines, and hatched."

[Photo by American Fire Protection Association Journal]

Myiasis is a general term for infections caused by fly larvae invading the body. Usually, flies lay eggs on untreated wounds, causing infection, but rarely, infection can occur through fly eggs on fruits or vegetables. While it can occur in humans, it is mostly a disease experienced by animals such as dogs and cats.

It is rare for an insect to remain intact inside a human body as in this case. Previously, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there was a case in 1984 where a live worm was found in the stool of a 12-month-old baby. Experts at the time presumed that the baby had ingested a banana containing fly eggs, and the larvae survived inside the stomach.

This case was also published in the recent issue of the American Journal of Gastroenterology. The medical team presented the case under the title "To Be a Fly on the Wall: A Mysterious Finding on Colonoscopy."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.