The primary human case of the flesh-eating parasite New World screwworm has been detected, in line with the Division of Well being and Human Providers.
The Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention labored with the Maryland Division of Well being to verify the case on Aug. 4 by telediagnosis, HHS advised The Hill. The parasite was present in an individual who had returned from journey to El Salvador, which is at the moment experiencing an outbreak of the parasite.
“Currently, the risk to public health in the United States from this introduction is very low,” HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon wrote in an e-mail to The Hill.
Reuters reported that final week that beef trade sources had been advised the CDC discovered a case of the parasite in an individual in Maryland who had returned from touring to Guatemala.
HHS didn’t give a cause for the discrepancy, and MDH has but to reply questions from The Hill.
New World screwworms are a kind of parasitic fly that lay eggs in warm-blooded animals like cattle, horses and typically family pets, in line with the Division of Agriculture (USDA). Typically, the bug can infest folks.
When the eggs hatch, the larvae burrow into open wounds of their host animal to feed, which might trigger an infection and even demise.
The parasite is usually present in South America and the Caribbean, in line with the CDC. However latest instances of the fly infecting cattle in Mexico have prompted the Trump administration to take motion.
USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins introduced in Might that the company would droop cattle, horse and bison imports from Mexico after the fly was detected in animals in Oaxaca and Veracruz.
Since then, the Trump administration has ramped up efforts to guard U.S. livestock and fight the potential unfold of the parasite into the USA, together with a plan to breed hundreds of thousands of sterile flies and unfold them throughout southern Texas and Mexico.
The USDA estimates that the parasite might trigger $1.8 billion in financial damages to the Texas economic system alone.
