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A flesh‑eating fly is advancing towards the US border—can it be stopped?
- March 30, 2026 at 10:30 PM
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A flesh-eating parasitic fly has spread north through Mexico to within a few hundred miles of the U.S. southern border. The New World screwworm (Cochliomyia hominivorax) lays its eggs in open wounds and in the orifices of live, warm-blooded animals—including, occasionally, humans. The maggots then devour the animal's flesh, causing devastating lesions that can quickly kill the infested host.
Originally published at Phys.org