The United States confirmed its first human case of New World screwworm on August 4 in a patient who returned from El Salvador to Maryland. An earlier report indicated a case in a traveler from Guatemala; the government has not reported any animal cases this year. Female screwworm flies lay eggs in wounds of warm-blooded animals; the eggs hatch into hundreds of larvae. The larvae burrow through living flesh for about a week, then drop to the ground, pupate and develop for one week to two months before emerging as adult flies. Infestations cause open, foul-smelling sores, visible maggots, weakness, weight loss, and severe pain and swelling in humans.
The case, investigated by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), was confirmed on August 4 and involved a patient who returned from El Salvador to the US state of Maryland, HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon said in an email to the Reuters news agency. Nixon did not address an earlier report that said a case had been confirmed in Maryland in a person who had travelled from Guatemala.
It's the larva of a screwworm fly. Female screwworm flies lay their eggs in the wounds of warm-blooded animals, and those eggs hatch into hundreds of screwworm larvae. The larvae then use their sharp mouths to burrow through the living flesh of their hosts for about a week. At the end of that week, they drop to the ground, form a pupa and develop in the ground for another week to two months before emerging as an adult fly.
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