A case of tungiasis after traveling to Congo

Tungiasis is an ectoparasitic disease that is caused by the penetration of Tunga penetrans into the epidermis of the host. Tungiasis is indigenous to South Americaand the Caribbean regions, but it has spread to Latin America, India, and sub-Saharan Africa. The area of soft skin such as the soles, toes, webs and subungual regions are the favored sites for sand flea embedding. As the flea enlarges within epidermis a pruritic, painful white or erythematous papulonodule develops. A black central punctum is characteristic. A 32-year-old woman presented with a small black crust on the right sole after traveling to an endemic area(Congo). Histopathologic examination revealed the internal organs of the arthropod embedded intothe epidermis, which allowed a definitive diagnosis of tungiasis. Although tungiasis is common in endemic areas, there has been no report of tungiasis in the Korean literature. We report herein an interesting case of tungiasis in a patient after traveling to Congo.