By Amelia 
The first human case of the flesh-eating parasite “New World screwworm “has been detected in the United States, the Department of Health and Human Services said early Monday.
The case, involving a person who had recently traveled to El Salvador, was confirmed to be screwworm by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Maryland Health Department on Aug. 4.
Maryland Health Department
The Maryland Health Department said in a statement Monday that the resident has recovered “from the infection, and the investigation confirmed there is no indication of transmission to any other individuals or animals.”
“This is the first human case of travel-associated New World screwworm myiasis (parasitic infestation of fly larvae) from an outbreak-affected country identified in the United States,” HHS spokesperson Emily G. Hilliard said in a statement.
announce a five-part plan
There were serious outbreaks in the 1980s and the 1990s in Central America, and it was eradicated at great expense, only to return in the last two years.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke L. Rollins traveled to Texas to announce a five-part plan to combat the screwworm on Aug. 15
It includes plans to breed billions of sterile flies and dump them from the air over southern Texas and Mexico in the hope of stopping the parasite’s spread.
first announced in June
the federal government may face calls to accelerate its work: When it was first announced in June, the sterilization plan wasn’t due to be operational for “two to three years.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbot, commenting on the federal government scheme, said the state agriculture industry, with its 2 million jobs, was worth $867 billion. “All of this is at risk because of the New World screwworm,” he said.
Mexico reported a case
Mexico reported a case in Ixhuatlán de Madero, Veracruz, last month, 370 miles from the Texas border, prompting Health and Human Services to immediately shut down cross-border cattle trade, following similar stops in November and May.