Federal authorities on Thursday launched a series of actions responding to the first New World screwworm cases detected in the U.S. in a decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) activated a formal emergency response to the New World screwworm, with the agency investigating the outbreak and preparing for potential human exposure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe CDC is just one more step in the right direction that allows us to deploy more resources at the federal level,\u201d Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told reporters in Texas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Concurrently, the Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization to a generic over-the-counter tablet, nitenpyram, to treat New World screwworm in dogs and cats, marking the first generic animal drug authorized for use against the parasite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At least seven cases have been confirmed in Texas and New Mexico so far among cattle, a goat and a dog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
New World screwworm is a fly whose larvae feed \u200con living tissue of warm-blooded animals. It enters through open wounds and burrows into the flesh, causing severe wounds and animal suffering if not detected and treated quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The screwworm was eradicated in the U.S. in the 1960s, but it has come back before. The most recent outbreak occurred between 2016 and 2017 in Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The parasite is endemic across South America and the Caribbean. Human infections are rare and there haven\u2019t been any U.S. cases reported so far in this outbreak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n