A genus of tissue-invading flies that cause myiasis in sheep; the head botflies in the family Oestridae. O. ovis (a nose fly) is a grayish brown, robust, hairy, beelike botfly, imported from Europe, and now a serious pest in parts of the U.S.; larvae are deposited by the adult fly in the nostrils of sheep, and inch-long larvae develop in the paranasal sinuses, causing considerable mucous discharge and distress in old or weak sheep. [G. oistros, gadfly]
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n.
a genus of widely distributed nonbloodsucking flies, occurring wherever sheep and goats are raised. The parasitic larvae of O. ovis, the sheep nostril fly, may occasionally and accidentally infect humans. By means of large mouth hooks, it attaches itself to the conjunctiva of the eye, causing a painful myiasis that may result in loss of sight. This is an occupational disease of shepherds. Larvae can be removed with forceps following anaesthesia.
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Oes·trus (esґtrəs) [Gr. oistros gadfly] a genus of botflies of the family Oestridae. O. oґvis (O. hoґminis) is a species whose larvae infest nasal cavities and sinuses of sheep and sometimes cause ophthalmomyiasis in humans.Medical dictionary. 2011.