Flystrike
starts in the greasy folds of skin that characterise Merino sheep. Moist and lined with lanolin, it’s the
perfect spot for blowflies to lay their eggs. The maggots hatch in the darkness
and feed on the living tissue of sheep until they emerge, sheltering in wet
lumps of wool, marked by large wounds with weeping lesions, swollen skin and
the smell of rotting flesh.
One
blowfly can produce up to 300 eggs per cycle, laying a new batch every few
days. Without rapid, intensive antibiotic treatment, the sheep will die.
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