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First U.S. screwworm case in years confirmed in Maryland

Federal officials in the U.S. have found the first human case of the flesh-eating parasite New World Screwworm connected to ongoing outbreaks in Central America.

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention worked with the Maryland Department of Health (MDH) to confirm the case on Aug.4, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) told The Hill.

“Currently, the risk to public health in the United States from this introduction is very low,” HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon wrote in an email to The Hill.

The bug was found on a person after they returned from traveling to El Salvador, which is currently experiencing an outbreak of the parasite. A MDH spokesperson said the person

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