Microbiology & infectious diseases
Parasites-cutaneous / subcutaneous / soft tissue
Cordylobia rodhaini (Lund fly)
Author: Nat Pernick, M.D.
Last author update: 12 July 2019
Last staff update: 5 October 2020
Copyright: 2019-2025, PathologyOutlines.com, Inc.
PubMed Search: Cordylobia rodhaini OR Lund fly
Table of Contents
Epidemiology | Pathophysiology / etiology | Case reports | Gross description | Gross images | Differential diagnosisCite this page: Pernick N. Cordylobia rodhaini (Lund fly). PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/parasitologycrodhaini.html. Accessed January 21st, 2025.
Epidemiology
- Found in the African subtropics (Pritt: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites Blog - Answer to Case 547 [Accessed 12 July 2019])
Pathophysiology / etiology
- Adult flies deposit their eggs on soil or clothing (Pritt: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites Blog - Answer to Case 547 [Accessed 12 July 2019])
- Contact with warm blooded host then causes the larvae to hatch and penetrate the skin
- Therefore, it is common practice in endemic areas to iron clothes
Case reports
- 1 cm long structure was extracted from a Belgian patient returning from Ghana (Pritt: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites Blog - Case of the Week 547 [Accessed 12 July 2019])
Gross description
- Weakly pigmented cuticular spines and sinuous spiracles (Pritt: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites Blog - Answer to Case 547 [Accessed 12 July 2019])
Gross images
Contributed by Bobbi Pritt, M.D. and Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp
Cordylobia rodhaini: third instar larva
C. rodhaini and
C. anthropophaga
Differential diagnosis
- Cordylobia anthropophaga or botfly / tumbu fly (Pritt: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites Blog - Answer to Case 547 [Accessed 12 July 2019]):
- More commonly seen on humans
- Also found in African subtropics
- C. rodhaini has more sinuous spiracles than C. anthropophaga
