Flesh-eating New World Screwworm could pose health risks to cattle, humans
A threat to American livestock – the New World Screwworm (NWS) fly, which has been considered eradicated from the country since 1966 — has reemerged as a potential danger following an outbreak in Mexico.
The news triggered a shutdown of cattle, horse and bison imports along the southern border, as U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins announced in an X post on Sunday.
"Due to the threat of New World Screwworm I am announcing the suspension of live cattle, horse, & bison imports through U.S. southern border ports of entry effective immediately," she wrote in the post.
Dangerous Fungus Could Spread To Parts Of Us, Researchers Claim
"The last time this devastating pest invaded America, it took 30 years for our cattle industry to recover. This cannot happen again."
The NWS is a fly that is endemic in Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and some South American countries, according to the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).
Read On The Fox News App
While the flies themselves are found in forests and other wooded areas, they will seek hosts like cattle or horses in pastures and fields, per the above source.
A female fly lays eggs in a wound or orifice of a live, warm-blooded animal. The eggs then hatch into larvae (maggots) that burrow into the flesh, causing potentially deadly damage.
Measles Scare At Major Airport: What To Know About Potential Exposure
Screwworms are named for their maggots' behavior, as they burrow into the flesh similar to how a screw is driven into wood.
For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews.com/health
"Maggots cause extensive damage by tearing at the hosts' tissue with sharp mouth hooks," according to the APHIS website. This can then enlarge the wound and attract more flies to lay eggs.
In rare cases, the larvae can feed on people, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states.
These infestations can be very painful and can cause serious, potentially fatal damage to their hosts by causing myiasis, a parasitic infection of fly larvae in human tissue.
Screwworms are often found in South America and the Caribbean.
"People who travel to these areas, spend time among livestock animals, sleep outdoors and have an open wound are at greater risk of becoming infested with NWS," says the CDC.
People who are immunocompromised, very young or very old, or malnourished are also at a higher risk of infection, the above source stated.
Those who have had recent surgery are also at a higher risk, "as the flies will lay eggs on open sores," according to the CDC.
If another outbreak were to occur in the U.S., "pets, livestock, wildlife and even humans may suffer and die from screwworm myiasis," the USDA warned.
The USDA estimates that livestock producers in the southwestern U.S. lost between $50 million and $100 million annually due to NWS in the 1950s and 1960s until it was successfully eradicated.
Click Here To Sign Up For Our Health Newsletter
"Presumably, these higher losses in the Southwest were due to higher livestock populations, larger geographic area and/or greater potential for NWS to overwinter," stated the report.
While the USDA eradicated NWS in 1966, there was an outbreak contained within the Florida Keys in 2016. It affected only in the endangered deer population and was eradicated by March 2017, per APHIS.
Greg Wehner contributed reporting.Original article source: Flesh-eating New World Screwworm could pose health risks to cattle, humans
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
CDC alerts Salmonella outbreak in eggs
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) – The CDC put an alert out Saturday warning the public about a multistate outbreak of Salmonella has been linked to eggs. According to the CDC, 79 people across seven states have gotten sick from the outbreak and 21 people have been hospitalized. No deaths have been reported. The eggs being recalled are sold by August Egg Company. The recall includes all chicken egg varieties including organic, cage-free brown, and omega-3. The eggs were distributed from February 3, 2025, through May 15, 2025, with sell by dates from March 4, 2025, to June 4, 2025, within California and Nevada. According to the CDC, the eggs were sold to restaurants and retailers in Arizona, California, Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, Washington, and Wyoming. Those at the CDC say if you have any of these eggs in your home or business, throw them out or return them to the store. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
41 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Measles resurgence highlights the toll of RFK Jr.'s anti-vaccine policies
After the U.S. surpassed 1,000 reported measles cases nationwide, it's clear the Trump administration is failing to protect our health and well-being. The measles outbreak in Texas is now the largest since 2000, when the country eliminated measles. And it's not yet over, threatening to make measles endemic in America again, where the risk of infection comes from within our country. Furthermore, two unvaccinated school-aged children in Texas died from measles, the first American children to die from the viral infection since 2003. Normally, a preventable infection causing avoidable deaths of children would lead to prompt government action. In 1991, I was a medical student with the U.S. Public Health Service in Philadelphia during a large measles outbreak. Over 1,000 people were infected, and nine children died. Government and public health leaders required home visits of infected children, mass immunization, education efforts and even court-mandated vaccinations. The outbreak was stopped. In Dec. 2014, a measles outbreak began at Disneyland and spread in communities with low vaccination rates. Public health action stopped this large outbreak at 125 cases. To prevent further outbreaks in California, I authored Senate Bill 277, which eliminated non-medical exemptions for school vaccines. And with further U.S. measles outbreaks in 2019, I authored Senate Bill 276 to crack down on fraudulent medical exemptions. These laws — championed by California parents demanding safe schools for children — raised statewide vaccination rates and shielded our communities. As Congress waits, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is dismantling decades of public health achievement that will make America sicker. Kennedy reduced vaccine outreach, removed key public health officials, spread disinformation from his official post and suppressed data while elevating conspiracy theorists to top positions. Kennedy and the Department of Government Efficiency fired a quarter of Health and Human Services staff, gutting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and National Institutes of Health teams vital to outbreak response. He installed anti-vaccine extremists as advisors, including David Grier, a discredited researcher disciplined for unethical experiments on children with autism, to 'research' if vaccines cause autism, despite decades of research debunking this myth. The CDC has been muzzled: An analysis showing high rates of measles in low vaccination areas was suppressed, and dozens of Texas vaccination clinics were forced to close. When Kennedy dismantled the CDC's communication team, his former anti-vaccine organization, Children's Health Defense, filled the void with disinformation by publishing a fake CDC-branded vaccine 'safety' website that falsely linked vaccines to autism. The site mimicked official CDC design and branding, deliberately misleading the public. After news reports exposed the deception and forced the site's removal, no federal action has been taken to investigate or prosecute this unlawful impersonation of a federal agency. Furthermore, Dr. Peter Marks, the nation's top vaccine regulator who led President Donald Trump's Operation Warp Speed, refused a demand for false data on brain swelling and death caused by the Measles-Mumps-Rubella vaccine, of which there are no credible cases. Kennedy forced him to resign. In his resignation letter, Marks wrote, 'it has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the secretary, but rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies.' And what of the dead children from measles? Kennedy dismissed the first measles death, saying 'it's not unusual.' He blamed measles on poor nutrition, called vaccines a 'personal choice' that could cause 'adverse events' and claimed Vitamin A and cod liver oil treated measles. Subsequently, many Texas children hospitalized with measles also had Vitamin A toxicity. At his first Congressional hearing, Kennedy testified, 'I don't think people should be taking medical advice from me.' He then refused to answer whether he would vaccinate a child against polio. As Health and Human Services secretary, he cravenly refuses to save Americans in a public health crisis. How many children must get sick — and even die — before Congress demands that Kennedy and the Trump administration answer for these preventable deaths and the continued spread of a preventable disease? This flu season, as flu vaccination declined, 226 children died from influenza — the highest since the 2009-10 pandemic. Other preventable and deadly diseases, including polio and whooping cough, will also return when vaccination is hampered and discouraged. Our state has made progress in raising vaccination rates, but we are not immune to Kennedy's dangerous vaccine disinformation; California has communities with enough unvaccinated people to fuel a serious outbreak. Measles outbreaks in other states makes it imperative that California strengthen our public health defenses against sparks of infection. And California needs Congress to hold President Donald Trump and Kennedy accountable for not stopping preventable disease in America. Dr. Richard Pan is a pediatrician and former California state senator who authored landmark legislation to eliminate non-medical exemptions to school vaccination requirements in response to major measles outbreaks.
Yahoo
41 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Salmonella outbreak linked to eggs sickens dozens of people across 7 states
More than 70 people across seven states have been sickened due to a salmonella outbreak linked to eggs recalled by a California-based egg distributor, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. On Friday, the August Egg Company recalled 1.7 million dozen brown cage-free and brown certified organic eggs, sold under multiple brand names, that have the 'potential to be contaminated,' according to a recall notice from the US Food and Drug Administration. Of the 79 people sickened, 21 people have been hospitalized and no deaths have been reported, the CDC said. The eggs were sold to restaurants and retailers in Arizona, California, Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, Washington and Wyoming, according to the CDC. They were distributed at retail locations including Walmart, Save Mart, FoodMaxx, Lucky, Smart & Final, Safeway, Raleys, Food 4 Less and Ralphs. Salmonella can 'cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems,' according to the FDA. Salmonella can also cause fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain in healthy people who get infected. 'August Egg Company is not selling fresh shell eggs at this time. Our firm has voluntarily been diverting eggs to an egg-breaking plant for over 30 days, which pasteurizes the eggs and kills any potential foodborne pathogens,' the company said in a statement provided to the FDA. 'It is important to know that when our processing plant identified this concern, we immediately began diverting all eggs from the plant to an egg-breaking facility, which pasteurizes the eggs and kills any pathogens.' The company also said its internal food safety team is 'conducting its own stringent review' to identify future preventative measures. 'We are committed to addressing this matter fully and to implementing all necessary corrective actions to ensure this does not happen again,' the company said. The CDC recommends that anyone who has the recalled eggs in their home or business throw them out or return them to the store where they were purchased.
