Exclusive-U.S. confirms nation's first travel-associated human screwworm case connected to Central American outbreak

FILE PHOTO: A sample of screwworms are displayed at a veterinary clinic in Tapachula, Chiapas state, Mexico July 4, 2025. REUTERS/Daniel Becerril/File Photo

BUENOS AIRES/CHICAGO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Sunday reported the first human case in the United States of travel-associated New World screwworm, a flesh-eating parasite, from an outbreak-affected country.

The case, investigated by the Maryland Department of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was confirmed by the CDC as New World screwworm on August 4, and involved a patient who returned from travel to El Salvador, HHS spokesman Andrew G. Nixon said in an email to Reuters.