Prelims – Current events of National and International importance| Science & Technology.
Why in News?
Recently, United States reported its first human case of the flesh-eating parasite, the New World screwworm.
New World Screwworm (NWS) is a species of parasitic flies that can cause myiasis and feed on live tissue.
Screwworms are a type of blue-grey blowfly.
Scientific name –Cochliomyia hominivorax.
Family -It belongs in the subfamily Chrysomyinae of the family Calliphoridae of the order Diptera (true flies).
Nomenclature –The parasites are named after the screwlike way they burrow into the tissue.
It is literally means man-eater.
Distribution – Endemic in Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and countries in South America.
Host organism – Females are attracted to and lay eggs on open wounds or another entry point like a nasal cavity in warm-blooded animals and rarely humans.
Reproduction – One female can lay up to 300 eggs at a time and may lay up to 3,000 eggs during her 10- to 30-day lifespan.
These eggs hatch into larvae (known as maggots), which burrow into the wound using their sharp mouth hooks to feed on the living flesh, leading to infestation.
After feeding, the larvae fall into the ground, burrow into the soil and emerge as adult screwworm flies.
Infestation – It can be extremely painful, especially in humans, with a high mortality rate if left untreated.
Symptoms
Wounds or sores that do not heal
Bleeding from open sores
Feeling larvae movement within a skin wound or sore
A foul-smelling odour from the site of the infestation.
Treatment -There are no vaccines or biological products available, except for the use of sterilised male flies in the sterile insect technique (SIT).
Eradication -The US eradicated New World screwworms in 1966 by using a method called the sterile insect technique.
