The Centre for Health Protection has confirmed the year's ninth human myiasis case, involving a 69-year-old female Tung Wah Hospital patient.

She had blood oozing from a wound on her neck on November 27 and maggots were found inside. She is in stable condition.

Human myiasis is caused by parasitic maggots which infest superficial wounds and body orifices such as the mouth, ear and nose of debilitated people. The larvae feed on the host's dead or living tissue and can cause serious damage. Click here for more on human myiasis.