The Crow here for c4ocradio.com

If it isn’t removed, the parasitic roundworm can live up to two years in a humans and can move from the face to the buttocks. According to the New England Journal of Medicine, a Russian woman bugged by a strange lump on her face was even more shocked to discover the cause: a live worm. The 32-year-old woman first noticed strange nodules below her left eye that later moved above her eye and then down to her upper lip. She told doctors the nodules appeared after she visited a rural area outside Moscow, she was also repeatedly bitten by mosquitoes. The nodules caused occasional itching and burning, but she said she had no other symptoms.  They removed the squirming lump from the woman’s face using local anesthetic and a pair of forceps.

It could have been worse, according to Natalia Pshenichnaya, a physician who studies infectious diseases at Rostov State Medical University in Rostov, Russia. Doctors quickly identified the suspect, a long, parasitic roundworm called Dirofilaria reopens typically spread by mosquitoes and hosted by dogs and other carnivores. The worm can live up to two years in the human body if it isn’t removed, Even worse: In 20 percent of cases, the worms can “move considerable distances,” such as from the upper eyelid to the buttocks. According to NPR News.  Luckily, it rarely causes disease in humans, according to Dr. Jorgen Kurtzhals, professor at University of Copenhagen and Copenhagen University Hospital. Still, Kurtzhals acknowledged that just the thought of such a critter can get under some people’s skin.

The Crow is a contributing writer for c4ocradio.com

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NPR News. 

New England Journal of Medicine