In the US, authorities have officially confirmed the first case of human infection with a flesh-eating parasite.
According to the Department of Health and Human Services, a patient who returned to the US from El Salvador was found to have miasis caused by the American Parasitic Drill (NWS). The case was reported on 4 August.
Miasis caused by NWS is an infection of human tissue by fly larvae.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) worked with the Maryland Department of Health to investigate the case.
According to Department of Health spokesman Andrew Nixon, this is the first time NWS has caused miasis in the United States associated with travel to an outbreak country.
This dangerous, tissue-eating live pest is commonly found in South America and the Caribbean.
Despite attempts to stop its northward spread, cases have now been confirmed throughout Central America, as well as in the United States and Mexico.
According to the CDC, people, especially those with open wounds, are susceptible to infection and are at higher risk if they travel to these regions or are around livestock in rural areas where these flies have been found.
The USDA’s Animal and Plant Inspection Service said it is cooperating with others and NWS fly larvae burrow into the flesh of a live animal, causing severe, often fatal damage, the USDA said. – NWS can infect livestock, pets, wildlife, sometimes birds and, in rare cases, humans.
An outbreak of borers among livestock can have serious economic consequences, threatening more than $100 billion worth of livestock-related economic activity, the USDA said.