BRADENTON, Fla. — A latest detection of a flesh-eating parasite in southern Mexico has U.S. officers involved that the beforehand eradicated New World Screwworm (NWS) may make its method again into the nation for the primary time for the reason that Nineteen Sixties.
“As a protective measure, animal health officials ask those along the southern Texas border to monitor wildlife, livestock and pets for clinical signs of NWS and immediately report potential cases,” officers stated within the launch.
The screwworm was eradicated within the U.S. in 1966 and in Mexico in 1991, based on the U.S. Embassy in Costa Rica. The pest can nonetheless be present in Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and South America and is constant to unfold again north, based on the U.S. Division of Agriculture.
Although the pest primarily impacts livestock, officers say people, wildlife and pets can be contaminated.
New World Screwworms
The New World Screwworm are larvae and maggots with ‘sharp mouth hooks’ that latch onto open wounds or stay tissue on the physique, Texas officers stated. The NWS flies lay eggs within the wounds or areas of uncovered tissue the place the worms later hatch.
If a wound is infested, it might change into bigger and trigger harm or demise to an animal, based on Texas officers.
Screwworm larvae solely feed on residing flesh and by no means on lifeless tissue, the embassy in Costa Rica stated.
“The wounds often contain a dark, foul-smelling discharge,” they stated on their web site.
The an infection is known as NWS myiasis, Texas officers stated. Indicators of an an infection embody:
Irritated or depressed habits
Lack of urge for food
Head shaking
Odor of decaying flesh
Presence of fly larvae (maggots) in wounds
Isolation from different animals or folks
The illness might be transmitted when a fly notices the odor of a wound or “natural opening on a live, warm bodied animal,” officers stated. The NWS fly, which is about double the dimensions of a typical home fly, then lays as much as 300 eggs at a time within the wound.
Then, the larvae burrow into the opening and latch onto the pores and skin.
Texas officers advocate that each one wounds be coated and bug repellent be utilized when outside.