A 32 year-old woman in Russia recently noticed a weird lump in her face that seemed to be moving across her face.

The bump first appeared below her left eye, then it appeared again five days later on her upper left eyelid. Ten days later, the lump had moved to her top lip, causing serious swelling.

The woman, who has not been named, said that the bump itched and hurt at times. It was only when she went to the ophthalmologist that she found out that the lump was a Dirofilaria repens, which is a type of long, thin parasitic roundworm that enters its hosts through mosquito bites.

Only three types of Dirofilaria can infect humans: D. immitis, D. repens (this was the one in the Russian woman’s face), and D. tenuis. Typically, these worms only infect dogs, foxes, or raccoons, but as this Russian woman found out, they can sometimes infect humans as well.

Vladimir Kartashev, a professor of medicine at Rostov State Medical University, is the doctor who treated this woman. He wrote a study on dirofilariasis that found that between June 1997 and June 2013, nearly 1,300 cases of dirofilariasis were found in Russia and Belarus. Most of the cases were in women who had visited rural areas, which is how this Russian woman is believed to have gotten it.

Thankfully, Dirofilariasis is very preventable. The CDC says you can prevent it by using insect repellant and keeping your skin covered in mosquito-heavy areas. The woman has since made a full recovery after having surgery to remove the worm!

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