Flesh-eating screwworm case detected in person in U.S. for first time in years

A case of the flesh-eating New World screwworm parasite was detected in a person in Maryland who returned to the U.S. after traveling to El Salvador, the Department of Health and Human Services said Sunday evening.

Why it matters: "This is the first human case of travel-associated New World screwworm myiasis (parasitic infestation of fly larvae) from an outbreak-affected country identified in the United States," said HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon in an emailed statement that noted the risk to public health in the U.S. from this case "is very low." • U.S. Department of Agriculture noted in a statement announcing the suspension of animal imports at the southern border that these maggots "burrow into the flesh of a living animal, they cause serious, often deadly damage to the animal" that