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Location of Olancho in Honduras
/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olancho_Department
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Second case of the screwworm in humans reported
February 26, 2025 - 5:11 AM
The health authorities of the department of Olancho reported yesterday the second case of myiasis in humans caused by the screwworm of cattle.
It is a 52-year-old woman originally from the village of La Sosa, a community near the urban area of Catacamas, according to the reports offered.
The patient was admitted on Tuesday afternoon to a medical care room of a hospital center in the region.
According to the doctors who treat the patient, her clinical picture has all the characteristics of the disease.
Myiasis is caused by a fly that seeks soft tissues in humans to place the eggs of the screwworm.
“The patient is healthy, stable and her condition is on the sole of her left foot where she shows a very affected ulcer, taking into account that she has an underlying pathology of type two diabetes mellitus.”
The woman will remain hospitalized until her health problem can be controlled, the doctors indicated, mainly due to her diabetes complication.
The Animal Health Service Senasa in Olancho confirmed the case as positive, however, the authorities of the Ministry of Health (Sesal) sent the sample to quality control for a second diagnosis, they said in the epidemiology area of the departmental region of Health.
Symptoms of the disease
The screwworm has affected dozens of bovine species in Honduras.
Since the appearance of the first case of the disease in Honduras, in September 2024 in Choluteca, the Ministry of Health operates the guidelines for surveillance, clinical management and prevention of screwworm myiasis in humans.
“The population remains exposed mainly if they have skin lesions and do not take hygiene measures and do not cover any wound, they are at risk, since the disease is found in domestic bovine, equine, canine and porcine species since the female fly craves soft tissues to place its eggs,” they explained in the health region.
The myiasis caused by the screwworm is a zoonetic disease, whose symptoms are, among others, skin pain with redness, lesions that suppurate and the presence of eggs or larvae and worms in the wound, among others. In addition, people present some high fevers and general malaise.
The woman has an ulcer on the sole of one of her feet.
After the first confirmed case in humans and the suspicion of another, Catacamas is intervened by the authorities of the Secretariat of Agriculture and Livestock (SAG) and by the Sesal, since it is a cattle-producing area and can trigger an epidemic of cases.
An 80-year-old man was the first case to be reported in the community of Sinaí, also in Catacamas, who recovered satisfactorily.
Cases of screwworm in cattle continue to increase in municipalities such as Catacamas, Dulce Nombre de Culmí, Patuca, San Francisco de la Paz, Juticalpa, San Esteban, Campamento, among others.
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