US confirms first case of flesh-eating New World screwworm in human

United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) officials have confirmed the nation’s first human case of New World screwworm on Sunday, August 25, 2025.

“It is a parasitic infestation, in a Maryland resident who recently traveled from El Salvador,” the Health Department official, Andrew G. Nixon revealed.

HHS spokesperson stated: “The risk to public health within the United States remains very low, emphasizing no animal cases have been confirmed this year.”

U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) verified the detection on August 4, 2025, subsequent to an investigation in collaboration with the Maryland Department of Health.

“The situation marks the first known travel-related human infection associated with the ongoing Central American epidemic,” the Reuters reported.

Screwworms are special parasitic flies who invade living tissue in warm-blooded animals, including humans. 

Worms entry points are mostly body openings and wounds from where screwworms start burrowing into flesh. The pest was eliminated from the United States in the 1960s.

US based agricultural analysts believe a full outbreak in the U.S. could cost the trade sector, especially in the major beef-producing states like Texas. 

Estimated loss is expected to reach numbers up to $1.8 billion in medical expenses, livestock damages and related industry costs.