Woman Finds Parasitic Worms in Her Eye

by Cecilia Lantz

While fishing in Alaska, 26 year old Abby Beckley noted that she felt something in her left eye.

Beckley recalls  “It felt like when an eyelash is poking you.” When she tried to relieve the discomfort she couldn’t find anything in her eye. Beckley mentioned, that the irritation lasted about five days before she decided to take action.

Assuming she would discover a hair or an eyelash, Beckley looks down and says “there was a worm on my finger.”

This type of parasitic worm is called Thelazia Gulosa. Until Beckley, this parasitic worm was only found in cattle eyes.  

Beckley seeked help from a doctor in Ketchikan, Alaska after she  found five additional worms in her eye before her visit. When she arrived, the doctors were extremely surprised and didn’t know how dangerous the worms would become.

Infectious disease specialist Erin Bonura, assures that it is unknown how the worms got in Beckley’s eyes and suspects that it simply happened as she passed through cattle pastures.