'Flesh-eating' screwworm parasite is found in US wildlife for the first time after it is detected in a Texas elk

The New World screwworm — a parasite that can lay up to 3,000 eggs in one wound — has turned up in a Texas elk. The USDA describes it as the first wildlife case logged during the current outbreak. Officials are moving urgently to contain its spread.

The parasite has earned the label 'flesh-eating' because its larvae burrow into open wounds.