The chigoe flea or jigger is a parasitic arthropod found in most tropical and sub-tropical climates.
At 1 mm long, the jigger is the smallest known flea.
Breeding female jiggers burrow into exposed skin on the feet of mammals and humans and remain there for two weeks while developing eggs, during which time they swell dramatically, sometimes causing intense irritation or pain. After this point, the skin looks like a blister with a central black dot, which are the flea's exposed hind legs, respiratory spiracles and reproductive organs.
If the jigger is left within the skin, dangerous complications can occur including secondary infections, loss of nails, and toe deformation.
The jigger lives in soil and sand, and feeds intermittently on warm-blooded hosts.
Males leave the host after getting some blood, but the females burrow head-first into the host's skin, leaving the caudal tip visible. This allows the jigger to breathe and relieve its self while feeding on the host. Over the next two weeks, its abdomen swells with up to several dozen eggs, which it releases through the rear to fall to the ground when ready to hatch. The jigger then dies. Within the next three to four days, the eggs hatch, and mature into adult jiggers within three to four weeks.
Since the jiggers spend most of their time on the ground, they usually end up on the feet. However, like most fleas they are capable of jumping up 20 cm, and can latch on to any part of the body, favoring regions of soft skin such as between the toes.
During the first day or two of infection, the host may feel an itching or irritation which then passes as the area around the jigger becomes insensitive. As the jigger abdomen swells with eggs later in the cycle, the pressure from the swelling may cause sensations ranging from mild irritation, serious discomfort, and complete pain.
The process of removing them is to puncture the skin and dig them out hopefully getting the female and the eggs.
At 1 mm long, the jigger is the smallest known flea.
Breeding female jiggers burrow into exposed skin on the feet of mammals and humans and remain there for two weeks while developing eggs, during which time they swell dramatically, sometimes causing intense irritation or pain. After this point, the skin looks like a blister with a central black dot, which are the flea's exposed hind legs, respiratory spiracles and reproductive organs.
If the jigger is left within the skin, dangerous complications can occur including secondary infections, loss of nails, and toe deformation.
The jigger lives in soil and sand, and feeds intermittently on warm-blooded hosts.
Males leave the host after getting some blood, but the females burrow head-first into the host's skin, leaving the caudal tip visible. This allows the jigger to breathe and relieve its self while feeding on the host. Over the next two weeks, its abdomen swells with up to several dozen eggs, which it releases through the rear to fall to the ground when ready to hatch. The jigger then dies. Within the next three to four days, the eggs hatch, and mature into adult jiggers within three to four weeks.
Since the jiggers spend most of their time on the ground, they usually end up on the feet. However, like most fleas they are capable of jumping up 20 cm, and can latch on to any part of the body, favoring regions of soft skin such as between the toes.
During the first day or two of infection, the host may feel an itching or irritation which then passes as the area around the jigger becomes insensitive. As the jigger abdomen swells with eggs later in the cycle, the pressure from the swelling may cause sensations ranging from mild irritation, serious discomfort, and complete pain.
The process of removing them is to puncture the skin and dig them out hopefully getting the female and the eggs.
These pictures are a combination of clinic and outreach people of Sole Hope.