Microbiology
Due to a female sand flea, Tunga penetrans, which lives on your blood.
Epidemiologic Risks
Found in South America, The Caribbean (its ancestral home) and in sub-Saharan Africa. "The spread to greater Africa occurred throughout the 17th and 19th centuries, specifically in 1872 when the infected crewmen of the ship Thomas Mitchell introduced it into Angola by illegal dumping of sand ballast, having sailed from Brazil (Wikipedia)."
Syndromes
Painful, itchy skin bumps.
Sand flea disease is the result of an intense inflammatory response against sand fleas embedded in the skin. Through its abdominal rear cone the parasite remains in contact with the environment. The opening in the skin is needed for copulation with male sand fleas, breathing, defecation and expelling eggs. After the expulsion of all eggs the female sand flea dies and is discarded from the epidermis by tissue repair mechanisms. Although self-limited, it is a debilitating disease in endemic areas due to the sequella of repeated and severe infection (PubMed).
Treatment
Digging them out with unsterile tools in most of the world. Bad idea in the third world. As the flea is engorged with blood it can be difficult to extract without widening the opening.
Topical ivermectin, metrifonate, thiabendazole, or dimeticone (PubMed).
Suffocation of the flea by applying a thick wax or jelly.
Freezing with liquid nitrogen.
Notes
It was first reported in Columbus's sailors, who helped spread it all over the world along with syphilis. Go Colombus.
Last Update: 05/01/18.