Detection of Flesh-Eating Screwworm Parasite in U.S. Traveler Raises Alarms

A flesh-eating parasite is creeping north from Mexico and Central America, spurring the U.S. to launch an aggressive eradication plan. Despite these efforts, a patient recently contracted the country’s first travel-associated case of New World screwworm infestation.

On Sunday, August 24, Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson Andrew Nixon told Reuters that health officials confirmed the case on August 4 in a Maryland resident who recently returned from a trip to El Salvador. David McAllister, a spokesperson for the Maryland Department of Health, told NPR the patient has recovered from the infection and confirmed that it has not spread to other individuals or animals.

“Currently, the risk to public health in the United States from this introduction is very low,” Nixon sa