GRANTS PASS, OREGON — A woman from Oregon got the shock of her life after discovering what was really irritating her eye: worms.<br /><br />CNN reports that thelazia gulosa are parasitic worms typically found in cattle. They live on the surface of the eyeball, and produce larvae that stay in the tears.<br /><br />Face flies that feed off the animal's eye secretions ingest the larvae, which develop into a more advanced stage while in the flies' digestive system.<br /><br />The worms can enter a human host when an infected fly lands close to or in a person's eye.<br /><br />So far, only 10 other cases of eye worms have been reported in the U.S., with none caused by thelazia gulosa until now.<br /><br />Eye worms can be killed with anti-parasitic medicine, but may cause scarring. As such, patients are advised to just monitor the eyes and remove any worms.<br /><br />The parasites have been known to cause vision loss and blindness in animals, but fortunately not in people.
