A 12-year-old girl spent a week with repeated nosebleeds, worsening trouble swallowing, and an on-and-off cough after drinking straight from a stream during a picnic. When doctors examined the back of her throat, they found the cause still alive and attached: a leech measuring about 8 centimeters, or roughly 3 inches.
The case, from Herat, Afghanistan, was published August 30 in the journal Clinical Case Reports by physicians from Herat University and Jami University. Removing the leech with forceps resolved her symptoms immediately.
