The U.S. has confirmed a uncommon human case of New World screwworm, a flesh-eating parasite that sometimes infects livestock however will be lethal to individuals too.
A Maryland resident suffered an infestation of the screwworm after touring to El Salvador, the U.S. Division of Well being and Human Providers (HHS) instructed TIME in an e-mail. Reuters first reported the information. Central America is at the moment grappling with outbreaks of the harmful pest, which have been threatening livestock and infecting individuals. The U.S. embassy in Nicaragua stated in July that greater than 120 human instances of screwworm infestation had been reported within the final yr.
The U.S. Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC) confirmed the Maryland case on Aug. 4 after reviewing photos of the insect inflicting the infestation, HHS stated.
“That is the primary human case of travel-associated New World screwworm [infestation] from an outbreak-affected nation recognized in the USA,” the company stated. “Presently, the danger to public well being in the USA from this introduction may be very low.”
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The U.S. cattle and livestock trade has reportedly been shaken by the information of the human case. Screwworm can unfold quickly and may kill totally grown cows in seven to 10 days, in line with the Nationwide Cattlemen’s Beef Affiliation. The pest threatens $100 billion of U.S. financial exercise tied to the cattle and livestock trade, the U.S. Division of Agriculture stated earlier this month.
New World screwworm is a kind of fly that lays eggs within the open wounds or mucous membranes, similar to nasal passages, of mammals and birds. When the eggs hatch, maggots emerge, which then feast on wholesome tissue, in line with the CDC. The identify “screwworm” refers back to the method the maggots burrow into flesh with their sharp mouth hooks.
The screwworms could cause in depth tissue injury and bacterial superinfection, the CDC says. Infestations are very painful and will be lethal if not handled promptly. There isn’t a accepted human therapy for screwworm infestations. Maggots, which might quantity within the lots of, need to be eliminated manually by a medical supplier.
Restricted info has been made public concerning the Maryland resident who suffered the screwworm infestation, however state well being officers stated the particular person has recovered, The Herald-Mail reported. A Maryland well being division spokesman instructed the outlet that there was no indication that the particular person’s infestation had unfold to different individuals or animals.
Information of the Maryland case comes simply days after the U.S. authorities introduced steps to forestall screwworm outbreaks and defend the U.S. cattle and livestock trade from the pest. These measures embody permitting the emergency use of veterinary medicine to deal with or stop infestations in animals and the constructing of a sterile fly facility in Texas. New World screwworm was eradicated from the U.S. within the Nineteen Sixties after the discharge of swarms of sterilized male screwworm flies that mated with wild feminine screwworms, which then produced infertile eggs.
The identical approach was used to regulate a small screwworm outbreak in Florida in 2017.
Although screwworm infections in persons are uncommon within the U.S., there have been a handful of instances lately involving vacationers returning to the nation from areas the place the pest is endemic. In 2023, a traveler with a surgical wound returned to Arkansas with a screwworm infestation after visiting Argentina and Brazil, in line with the CDC. Final yr, a traveler returned to Florida with an infestation that they had acquired on trip within the Dominican Republic.
