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Health Care

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The Big Story

First U.S. screwworm case in years confirmed in Maryland

Federal officials in the U.S. have found the first human case of the flesh-eating parasite New World Screwworm connected to ongoing outbreaks in Central America.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention worked with the Maryland Department of Health (MDH) to confirm the case on Aug.4, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) told The Hill.

“Currently, the risk to public health in the United States from this introduction is very low,” HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon wrote in an email to The Hill.

The bug was found on a person after they returned from traveling to El Salvador, which is currently experiencing an outbreak of the parasite. A MDH spokesperson said the person has recovered from an infection caused by the parasite and did not transmit the bug to other people or animals.

What to know:

New World screwworms are a type of parasitic fly that lays eggs in warm-blooded animals such as cattle, horses and sometimes household pets, according to the Department of Agriculture (USDA). Sometimes, the bug can infest people.
When the eggs hatch, the larvae burrow into open wounds in their host animal to feed, which can cause infection and even death.
The parasite is typically found in South America and the Caribbean, according to the CDC. But recent cases of the fly infecting cattle in Mexico have prompted the Trump administration to take action.
Treatment involves removing the larvae, which may require surgery.

Detected cases in cattle in the Mexican states of Oaxaca and Veracruz led to USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins announcing in May that the U.S. would be suspending cattle, horse and bison imports from Mexico.

The Trump administration had boosted efforts to combat the spread of the virus, including breeding millions of sterile flies to then spread over southern Texas and parts of Mexico.

Rollins’s agency estimates the parasites could cause $1.8 billion in economic damage in Texas alone.

Welcome to The Hill’s Health Care newsletter, we’re Nathaniel Weixel, Joseph Choi and Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health.

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Essential Reads

How policy will be impacting the health care sector this week and beyond:

Maher warns Democrats over Trump’s marijuana reform push

Comedian Bill Maher warned Democrats on Friday about President Trump’s recent comments, in which he said his administration is “looking at” reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug.

Full Story

Vaccine skeptic to lead CDC COVID immunization working group

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has chosen a known vaccine skeptic to lead its COVID-19 working group, which was originally established to discuss immunization recommendations at the start of the pandemic. A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) confirmed to The Hill that Retsef Levi, professor of operations management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School …

Full Story

Ozempic teeth: Dentists warn of new GLP-1 side effect

Related video: So, you’ve lost weight using Wegovy. Does that mean you can stop taking it? (AP) Patients using Ozempic and other GLP-1 drugs are reporting a complication not listed among the drug’s most common side effects. We’re not talking about “Ozempic babies,” but that’s also a thing. Dentists warn they’re seeing cases of something nicknamed “Ozempic teeth.” Medications …

Full Story

In Other News

Branch out with a different read:

Planned Parenthood sues South Carolina over Medicaid ban

An updated legal challenge from Planned Parenthood in South Carolina seeks to preserve Medicaid for its health centers after a recent Supreme Court decision allowed the state to restrict federal funding. The filing challenges the constitutionality of Gov. Henry McMaster’s (R) order that blocks Medicaid funds from clinics that provide abortions. The complaint asked a federal judge to block the policy and allow …

Full Story

Around the Nation

Local and state headlines on health care:

Congress faces decision as tax credit lapse could drive up Iowans‘ health insurance rates (Des Moines Register)
Alaska medical board moves to restrict gender-affirming care for minors in the state (Alaska Public Media)
Texas Republicans revive effort to further restrict abortion pills (The Texas Tribune)

What We’re Reading

Health news we’ve flagged from other outlets:

Surgeons transplant pig lung into brain dead human recipient for first time (The Guardian)
As MAHA turns 1, a fired-up movement is still figuring out how to fulfill its promises (Stat)
FTC has long said products must back up health claims. A MAHA lawsuit would upend that. (KFF Health News)