Farmer avoids eye-hatching larvae as doctors extract 11 live worms

Ophthalmologists in South Korea removed 11 living worms from a 71-year-old man's eyes just before the female parasites would have released their larvae.

The patient, a crop farmer, reported feeling an object stuck in both eyes for two months. During that period, his vision became blurry and his eyes turned red. When he visited an eye clinic, doctors observed multiple mobile, whitish roundworms on the surface of his eyes. Physical examination showed enlarged blood vessels in the conjunctiva and erosion of the cornea, the transparent outer layer of the eye.

The case was detailed in a report published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The medical team applied a topical anesthetic to numb the man's eyes. They then used fine forceps to extract the parasites individually. The collection yielded 11 adult worms measuring between 11 and 22 millimeters in length. Microscopic analysis identified the organisms as Thelazia callipaeda nematodes.

This species is widespread across Asia and has established populations in parts of Europe. While these parasites typically infect the eyes of cats and dogs, humans can become hosts through incidental contact. At the time of removal, many of the female worms were pregnant, meaning the man avoided the immediate release of living larvae into his ocular tissue.