Baton Rouge General’s Health Tip of the Week: The return of the flesh-eating screwworm

The new world screwworm, a flesh-eating parasite once eradicated from the U.S., has been detected in a calf in Texas. Female flies lay eggs in wounds of warm-blooded animals, with larvae feeding on living tissue. The parasite primarily threatens livestock, posing a low risk to humans and not entering the food supply.