Secretaría de Salud
Mexico's federal health ministry.
Mexico's Secretaría de Salud has counted 692 people infested with New World screwworm in 27 states since April 2025, 575 of them between January and 18 September 2026, and four deaths this year.
Last refreshed: 4 October 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
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Recorded 575 human screwworm cases in 2026
Pandemics and Biosecurity: Screwworm cases in Mexico rise fivefoldBackground
The Secretaría de Salud is tracking a livestock parasite that has turned into a human health problem. Its figures, reported by El Universal, show a fivefold rise: 117 human cases in the whole of 2025, then 575 from January to 18 September 2026. The ministry counts 692 people infested in 27 states since April 2025. Four have died, all this year, in Oaxaca, Querétaro, Veracruz and Yucatán.
The ministry runs a dedicated surveillance system for screwworm myiasis. Its state counts follow the fly's spread north from the Guatemalan border: Chiapas has 165 cases, Veracruz 116, Oaxaca 68, Puebla 61 and Yucatán 47. screwworm flies lay eggs in open wounds, and the larvae feed on living tissue, so cases cluster among older people, people with chronic wounds and those living near livestock.
Alongside screwworm, the ministry faces measles in 2026. The Pan American Health Organization counted 12,943 cases and 22 deaths in Mexico by 19 September 2026, and the outbreak is declining.
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