A worried holidaymaker has warned other travellers after she returned from a holiday in Bali with burns that will take 'years' to heal.
Cindel Lewis, from Australia, found strange red mark marks all over her legs following a short trip to the Indonesian island several weeks ago.
She later discovered the painful blisters were inflicted by a local type of rove beetle, a small ant-sized creature known in the country as a 'tomcat insect '.
The insect carries a strong toxin in their blood that causes an irritation to skin called paederus dermatitis.
While the blisters can be serious and long-lasting, most people don't realise they are happening at the time of contact, with a rash developing only between 12 and 36 hours afterwards.
This is exactly what happened to Cindel, who wrote on Facebook that she “didn’t even feel it happen” and had “just woken up to the marks on her legs”.
Her symptoms have now improved after her burn " mostly peeled" when she was prescribed a 1% cortisone cream, she says.
But Cindel remains slightly concerned about the visual impact, as she is "still left with burnt-looking skin underneath".
Turning to the internet for help from fellow sufferers, she asked: "Would love to know of anything to put on it to help because everything I’d usually use on a burn is just flaring it up again!"
One victim updated them with their own progress almost two months on, replying: "Seven weeks and counting, mine was quite bad, now it just looks like a bruise"
Aieshya who responded to Cindel's post, meanwhile told 7News that her blisters took around three weeks to scar.
"It was very sore at the time, but it’s fine now" she said.
Others however said the beetle burn took much longer to disappear, with one woman claiming that despite being "fully healed", her bite marks remained after a "couple of years".
Anyone who believes they may have come into contact with the insect should immediately wash the area concerned, according to Australian health advice.
