Todayโs path rounds are on ๐ง๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ ๐๐จ๐ญ๐ฌ, otherwise known as ๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฌ!
๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ?
๐๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ ๐๐จ๐ญ๐ฌ are the larvae of the sheep bot fly, which happen to enjoy living in the nose of sheep! The larvae living in the nose can be very annoying for the sheep, but generally do not cause too many issues.
๐๐ก๐จ ๐ ๐๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ?
These bots primarily affect sheep, but occasionally can affect goats as well.
๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ?
As mentioned, these nasal bots are the larval stage of the sheep bot fly, which is a fly very commonly found on sheep farms. The adult flies deposit their larvae onto the sheepโs nose, and the larvae enter the nasal passages and begin to mature. Eventually, they will drop out of the sheepโs nose and develop into a mature fly.
๐๐ก๐ฒ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฆ?
As you can probably imagine, having a bunch of larvae crawling around in your nose is pretty unpleasant, so these sheep often display signs of annoyance like rubbing their nose on things and sneezing. It can also cause some inflammation and irritation of the nasal passages, which may cause them to develop nasal discharge and difficulty breathing. Rarely, these larvae can actually penetrate into the cranium, where the brain sits, and cause infections in and around the brain!
๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ข๐๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ฌ๐๐?
These bots are typically diagnosed based on the clinical signs, or by visualizing a bot in the nasal cavity using an endoscope.
๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐๐?
These bots can be killed by typical antiparasitic drugs like ๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฆ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐ง!
๐๐ก๐จ๐ญ๐จ๐ฌ
1-5) Examples of nasal bots in the nasal sinuses!
6) A bot that made its way onto the brain! Itโs kind of cuteโฆ 
๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐๐ฌ
Maxie, G. Jubb, Kennedy and Palmerโs Pathology of Domestic Animals, Volume 2. Sixth Edition.
Scott, PR. Sheep Nose Bot. Merck Veterinary Manual 2014.
Photos 2-6 ยฉ Noahโs Arkive contributors Hedstrom, Loukpoulos, Barros, Wright and Edwards licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo 1 ยฉ University of Calgary Diagnostic Services Unit.
