The US reports its first New World parasitic screw worm infection in decades

A person in Maryland has been confirmed to have an infection with the flesh-eating New World screwworm parasite, the first human case of the infection in the United States since the parasite was eradicated in the country over 60 years ago, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

- WORDS SKYLER WARE

The Maryland patient had returned to the US after travelling to El Salvador, HHS spokesperson Andrew G. Nixon said, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed the infection with the New World screwworm via images of the larvae on 4 August. “This is the first human case of travel-associated New World screwworm myiasis [a parasitic infestation of fly larvae] from an outbreak-affected country identified in the US,” Nixon said. However, “the risk to public health in the US from this introduction is very low”.