U.S. health officials reiterated what Deputy Secretary Vaden said at the Farm Progress Show when it comes to New World screwworm and the recent human case.
The patient would be fine because he or she was treated right away.
NCBA says that this case is not the first of its kind in recent years.
According to CEO Colin Woodall, “There was a human case in the United States last year in 2024. There was one in 2023. We also know of one that happened in 2014, and all of them were very similar. These were individuals who traveled to a country that had New World screwworm, brought the larvae back with them, and then, when the pain got unbearable, went to seek treatment, and the CDC was engaged. It was identified, and those larvae were destroyed. So, we as NCBA, we’re not shocked to see that there is a human case.”
Woodall says that all the protocols in place worked as designed, limiting the overall risk.
To date, no U.S. livestock have been confirmed with New World screwworm since the last outbreak began outside American borders.
