Oct. 29 (UPI) — Arizona agriculture officials have announced the state’s first case of New World screwworm, making it the third U.S. state to report a case of the flesh-eating parasite amid the ongoing outbreak.
The parasite was found in a heavily maggot-infested wound on a dog’s back in Cochise County by a local veterinarian who examined the animal Monday evening, according to the Arizona Department of Agriculture.
Samples from the dog were tested and confirmed on Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a statement.
The infected dog was under veterinary care, state agriculture officials said. AZDA was working with the veterinarian and the dog’s owner to gather information about the infection to guide the epidemiological investigation and local response, including working with neighboring states and Mexican partners.
“We have been preparing for this possibility for a long while and are acting swiftly,” Dr. Ryan Wolker, Arizona’s state veterinarian, said in a statement.
According to the USDA, federal and state animal health officials were establishing a 20-km — or 12.4-mile — infested zone around the site of the detection, releasing sterile flies, increasing live animal surveillance and trapping and implementing targeted outreach to local producers, veterinarians and communities.
Seventy-one cases of New World screwworm have been detected in the United States — 18 that are currently active — since the first one was reported on June 3, the USDA’s New World screwworm dashboard states. Cases were also detected in New Mexico and Texas.
The detection comes a week after U.S. agriculture officials announced the first known case of the parasite found in U.S. wildlife, discovered by a hunter in a female elk in Texas.
The current outbreak began in Panama and Costa Rica in 2023. Since then, cases in animals and people have been reported across Central America, Mexico and now three southern U.S. states.