US reports its first ever human case of deadly flesh-eating screwworm

A deadly flesh-eating parasite has been detected in a human in the US for the first time ever.

The case of New World screwworm was found in a person who had recently returned from El Salvador in Central America.

It is now being investigated by the Maryland Department of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to Reuters.

Andrew G. Nixon, a spokesman for the US Department of Health and Human Services, told the news agency: ‘The risk to public health in the United States from this introduction is very low.’

It is rare for screwworms to infect humans and outbreaks often have a far greater impact on cattle and wildlife.

The parasitic flies lay hundreds of eggs in the open wounds of any warm-blooded animal, beginning a skin-crawling life cycle.

Once they hatch, the screwworm larvae burrow deep into living flesh using their sharp mouths.

If left untreated, this infection can – unsurprisingly – prove fatal. It is survivable if caught early enough.

But treatment can be challenging, due to the worms’ habit of ‘screwing’ deeper into the tissue if it is disturbed – hence their name.

It also involves painstakingly removing hundreds of larvae from a wound which then needs to be thoroughly disinfected.

While the US government has reassured the country’s human population, it’s cattle farmers who are likely to be alarmed by the latest news.

According to the US Department of Agriculture, a screwworm outbreak in Texas alone would cost the state economy around $1.8 billion (£1.3 billion).

To try and get ahead of a potential problem, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced plans last week to build a sterile fly facility in Texas.

These facilities produce swarms of male flies who are then sterilised and sent out to mate with females with the aim of pulling down the wild population.

Similar techniques were used to eradicate screwworm from the US 60 years ago.

No animal cases have been confirmed in the country this year, but there are concerns about a northward drift of cases from South and Central America as the climate get warmer.

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