{
  "abstract": "Cases of adventitious feeding on humans by non-hematophagous insects hold significant medical relevance, yet their occurrence during active body art procedures remains undocumented. This case report describes a persistent instance of opportunistic exsudatophagy by the house fly, Musca domestica Linnaeus, 1758 (Diptera: Muscidae), during a tattooing session on a healthy 32-year-old male client in Germany. Over a four-hour timeframe, four adult house flies entered the ground-floor studio through doors and windows opened for summer cross-ventilation. The insects exhibited highly persistent landing and feeding attempts directly on the freshly wounded tissue of the right lower leg, actively drinking a matrix of blood, plasma, and tattoo ink. Attraction intensified significantly once large-scale shading expanded the exuding epidermal surface area. Effective mechanical repulsion was heavily restricted by the client's enforced immobility required to ensure precise tattoo application. Following a routine aftercare protocol, the lesion healed completely without secondary bacterial infection. This report highlights a neglected hygienic hazard where the saprophagous and coprophilic ecology of synanthropic filth flies poses a mechanical vector risk for dermal pathogen inoculation, emphasizing the necessity of simple vector control strategies in tattooing facilities.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME, Ohlebergsweg 12, Giessen, 35392, Germany. patrick.klueber@ime.fraunhofer.de.",
    "Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME, Ohlebergsweg 12, Giessen, 35392, Germany."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 2,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Patrick Klüber",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-4551-5676"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Niklas Hetz",
      "orcid": "0009-0008-4169-9547"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/7gcrvtwet80ay.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1007/s00436-026-08792-1",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13687242",
  "id": "7gcrvtwet80ay",
  "issns": [
    "0932-0113",
    "1432-1955"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42907585",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2307|Insects and Parasite Interactions"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7223109404",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13687242?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13687242",
  "pmid": "42907585",
  "published": "2026-10-21",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/7gcrvtwet80ay.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:19:53Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42907585",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42907585"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2307|Insects and Parasite Interactions",
      "subfield": "pharmacology-toxicology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Blood, ink, and flies: A case report on the house fly (Musca domestica) feeding on active tattooing wounds.",
  "title_text": "Blood, ink, and flies: A case report on the house fly (Musca domestica) feeding on active tattooing wounds.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:19:53Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/7gcrvtwet80ay",
  "venue": "Parasitology research",
  "versions": []
}