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

Buenos Aires/Chicago/Washington | Reuters — The U.S. Division of Well being and Human Providers on Sunday reported the primary human case in the US of travel-associated New World screwworm, a flesh-eating parasite, from an outbreak-affected nation.

The case, investigated by the Maryland Division of Well being and the U.S. Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention, was confirmed by the CDC as New World screwworm on August 4, and concerned a affected person who returned from journey to El Salvador, HHS spokesman Andrew G. Nixon mentioned in an e-mail to Reuters.

Earlier, Reuters reported that beef business sources mentioned final week that the CDC had confirmed a case of New World screwworm in an individual in Maryland who had traveled to the US from Guatemala.

Nixon didn’t deal with the discrepancy on the supply of the human case.

“The danger to public well being in the US from this introduction may be very low,” he mentioned.

The U.S. authorities has not confirmed any instances in animals this 12 months.

Menace to beef business

The differing accounts from the U.S. authorities and business sources on the human case are more likely to additional rattle an business of cattle ranchers, beef producers and livestock merchants already on high alert for potential U.S. infestations as screwworm has moved northward from Central America and southern Mexico.

The federal government’s affirmation of a screwworm case comes simply over every week after U.S. Division of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins traveled to Texas to announce plans to build a sterile fly facility there as a part of efforts to fight the pest.

The USDA has estimated a screwworm outbreak may price the economic system in Texas, the most important U.S. cattle-producing state, about $1.8 billion in livestock deaths, labor prices and drugs bills.

An government of the business group Beef Alliance despatched emails final week to about two dozen folks within the livestock and beef sectors, informing them that the CDC had confirmed a human case of screwworm in Maryland in an individual who had traveled to the U.S. from Guatemala, in accordance with a supply, who requested to not be recognized, and who shared the contents of the emails with Reuters.

Beth Thompson, South Dakota’s state veterinarian, instructed Reuters on Sunday that she was notified of a human case in Maryland inside the final week by an individual with direct data of it. CDC deferred inquiries to Maryland on a name with state animal well being officers, Thompson mentioned. “We came upon by way of different routes after which needed to go to CDC to inform us what was happening,” she mentioned. “They weren’t forthcoming in any respect. They turned it again over to the state to verify something that had occurred or what had been discovered on this traveler.”

One other supply mentioned that state veterinarians had discovered a couple of human case in Maryland throughout a name final week with the CDC. A Maryland state authorities official additionally confirmed a case.

A spokesperson for the Maryland Division of Well being didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.

What are screwworms?

Screwworms are parasitic flies whose females lay eggs in wounds on any warm-blooded animal. As soon as the eggs hatch, a whole lot of screwworm larvae use their sharp mouths to burrow by way of dwelling flesh, ultimately killing their host if left untreated.

The maggots’ feeding is just like a screw being pushed into wooden, giving the pests their identify.

Screwworms might be devastating in cattle and wildlife, and infrequently infest people, although an infestation in both an animal or an individual might be deadly.

Remedy is onerous, and entails eradicating a whole lot of larvae and completely disinfecting wounds. However infestations are sometimes survivable if handled early sufficient.

The emails from the Beef Alliance government mentioned that attributable to affected person privateness legal guidelines, there have been no different particulars accessible concerning the constructive human case of screwworm. The individual was handled and prevention measures have been applied within the state, the e-mail mentioned.

A livestock economist at Texas A&M College was requested to arrange a report for Rollins on the impacts to business of the border closure to Mexican cattle, in accordance with the emails, a measure that has largely been in impact since November to forestall the arrival of screwworm to the US.

The CDC was required to report the constructive New World screwworm case to each Maryland well being officers and the Maryland state veterinarian, one of many emails mentioned, including that the CDC additionally notified different agriculture stakeholders.

“We stay hopeful that, since consciousness is at the moment restricted to business representatives and state veterinarians, the probability of a constructive case being leaked is low, minimizing market impression,” the meat business government wrote.

A consultant for the Beef Alliance didn’t reply to requests for remark.

Impression on beef and cattle futures

Chicage Mercantile Trade feeder cattle futures fell sharply on Monday after the U.S. Division of Well being and Human Providers confirmed the human screwworm case.

CME September feeder cattle contracts have been down 2.75 cents at 359.925 cents per pound by 8:40 a.m. CDT after earlier falling as little as 354.525 cents per pound.

Livestock merchants and beef producers have been on edge concerning the potential for instances in cattle as costs have already hit document highs as a result of the U.S. cattle herd is at its smallest measurement in seven many years.

A human case and the shortage of transparency round it may current a political problem for Rollins. The USDA has set traps and despatched mounted officers alongside the border, however it has confronted criticism from some cattle producers and market analysts for not performing quicker to pursue elevated fly manufacturing.

Rollins first introduced plans for a sterile fly facility at Moore Air Pressure Base in Edinburg, Texas – close to the place a manufacturing facility to fight screwworm operated over the last main outbreak 50 years in the past – in June, saying that the power would take two to a few years to return on-line.A spokesperson for the USDA didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.Mexico has additionally taken efforts to restrict the unfold of the pest, which might kill livestock inside weeks if not handled. The Mexican authorities mentioned in July that it began to construct a $51 million sterile fly manufacturing facility within the nation’s south.

The only working plant is in Panama Metropolis and might produce a most of 100 million sterile screwworm flies every week. The USDA has estimated that 500 million flies would should be launched weekly to push the fly again to the Darien Hole, the stretch of rainforest between Panama and Colombia.

Screwworms touring north

Screwworms have been touring north by way of Mexico from Central America since 2023. They’re endemic in Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and nations in South America, in accordance with the USDA.

Mexico reported a brand new case about 370 miles (595 km) south of the U.S. border in Ixhuatlan de Madero, Veracruz, in July. The USDA instantly ordered the closure of livestock commerce by way of southern ports of entry, after beforehand halting imports in November and Could.

The U.S. sometimes imports over one million cattle from Mexico a 12 months to fatten in feedlots and course of into beef.

Screwworms have been eradicated from the US within the Sixties when researchers started releasing huge numbers of sterilized male screwworm flies that mate with wild feminine screwworms to supply infertile eggs.

— Extra reporting by Heather Schlitz in Chicago and Jarrett Renshaw in Washington.

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