BUENOS AIRES/CHICAGO/WASHINGTON — The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Sunday reported the first human case in the United States of travel-associated New World screwworm, a flesh-eating parasite, from an outbreak-affected country.

The case, investigated by the Maryland Department of Health and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), was confirmed by the CDC as New World screwworm on Aug. 4, and involved a patient who returned from travel to El Salvador, HHS spokesman Andrew G. Nixon said in an e-mail to Reuters.

Earlier, Reuters reported that beef industry sources said last week that the CDC had confirmed a case of New World screwworm in a person in Maryland who had traveled to the United States from Guatemala.

Mr. Nixon did not address the discrepancy on the source of the human case.

“The risk to public health in the United States from this introduction is very low,” he said.

The US government has not confirmed any cases in animals this year.

The differing accounts from the US government and industry sources on the human case are likely to further rattle an industry of cattle ranchers, beef producers and livestock traders already on high alert for potential US infestations as screwworm has moved northward from Central America and southern Mexico.

The government’s confirmation of a screwworm case comes just over a week after US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins traveled to Texas to announce plans to build a sterile fly facility there as part of efforts to combat the pest.

The USDA has estimated a screwworm outbreak could cost the economy in Texas, the biggest US cattle-producing state, about $1.8 billion in livestock deaths, labor costs and medication expenses.

An executive of the industry group Beef Alliance sent e-mails last week to about two dozen people in the livestock and beef sectors, informing them that the CDC had confirmed a human case of screwworm in Maryland in a person who had traveled to the US from Guatemala, according to a source, who asked not to be identified, and who shared the contents of the e-mails with Reuters.

Beth Thompson, South Dakota’s state veterinarian, told Reuters on Sunday that she was notified of a human case in Maryland within the last week by a person with direct knowledge of it. CDC deferred questions to Maryland on a call with state animal health officials, Ms. Thompson said.

“We found out via other routes and then had to go to CDC to tell us what was going on,” she said. “They weren’t forthcoming at all. They turned it back over to the state to confirm anything that had happened or what had been found in this traveler.”

Another source said that state veterinarians had learned about a human case in Maryland during a call last week with the CDC. A Maryland state government official also confirmed a case.

A spokesperson for the Maryland Department of Health did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

WHAT ARE SCREWWORMS?
Screwworms are parasitic flies whose females lay eggs in wounds on any warm-blooded animal. Once the eggs hatch, hundreds of screwworm larvae use their sharp mouths to burrow through living flesh, eventually killing their host if left untreated.

The maggots’ feeding is similar to a screw being driven into wood, giving the pests their name.

Screwworms can be devastating in cattle and wildlife, and rarely infest humans, though an infestation in either an animal or a person can be fatal.

Treatment is onerous, and involves removing hundreds of larvae and thoroughly disinfecting wounds. But infestations are typically survivable if treated early enough.

The e-mails from the Beef Alliance executive said that due to patient privacy laws, there were no other details available about the positive human case of screwworm. The person was treated and prevention measures were implemented in the state, the e-mail said.

A livestock economist at Texas A&M University was asked to prepare a report for Rollins on the impacts to industry of the border closure to Mexican cattle, according to the e-mails, a measure that has largely been in effect since November to prevent the arrival of screwworm to the United States.

The CDC was required to report the positive New World screwworm case to both Maryland health officials and the Maryland state veterinarian, one of the e-mails said, adding that the CDC also notified other agriculture stakeholders.

“We remain hopeful that, since awareness is currently limited to industry representatives and state veterinarians, the likelihood of a positive case being leaked is low, minimizing market impact,” the beef industry executive wrote.

A representative for the Beef Alliance did not respond to requests for comment.

IMPACT ON BEEF AND CATTLE FUTURES
Livestock traders and beef producers have been on edge about the potential for cases in cattle as prices have already hit record highs because the US cattle herd is at its smallest size in seven decades.

A human case and the lack of transparency around it could present a political challenge for Rollins. The USDA has set traps and sent mounted officers along the border, but it has faced criticism from some cattle producers and market analysts for not acting faster to pursue increased fly production.

Rollins first announced plans for a sterile fly facility at Moore Air Force Base in Edinburg, Texas — near where a production facility to combat screwworm operated during the last major outbreak 50 years ago — in June, saying that the facility would take two to three years to come online.

A spokesperson for the USDA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Mexico has also taken efforts to limit the spread of the pest, which can kill livestock within weeks if not treated. The Mexican government said in July that it started to build a $51-million sterile fly production facility in the country’s south.

The sole operating plant is in Panama City and can produce a maximum of 100 million sterile screwworm flies each week. The USDA has estimated that 500 million flies would need to be released weekly to push the fly back to the Darien Gap, the stretch of rainforest between Panama and Colombia.

Screwworms have been traveling north through Mexico from Central America since 2023. They are endemic in Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and countries in South America, according to the USDA.

Mexico reported a new case about 370 miles (595 kilometers) south of the US border in Ixhuatlan de Madero, Veracruz, in July. The USDA immediately ordered the closure of livestock trade through southern ports of entry, after previously halting imports in November and May.

The US typically imports over a million cattle from Mexico a year to fatten in feedlots and process into beef.

Screwworms were eradicated from the United States in the 1960s when researchers began releasing massive numbers of sterilized male screwworm flies that mate with wild female screwworms to produce infertile eggs. — Reuters

SEOUL — South Korea hopes to normalize relations with China that have been strained in recent years, a special envoy from Seoul told Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday, and agreed to boost economic cooperation, Seoul’s foreign ministry said.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung sent a special delegation led by former parliament speaker Park Byeong-seug to his country’s main trading partner as he travels to Washington to meet US President Donald J. Trump.

Mr. Lee arrived in Washington early on Monday.

Mr. Park told Mr. Wang he hoped the countries would work together to “open the door to normalizing South Korea-China relations, which have been strained in recent years,” according to his comments relayed by South Korean TV.

Mr. Park handed Mr. Wang a letter from Mr. Lee to Chinese President Xi Jinping and invited Mr. Xi to the summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) grouping in October, South Korea’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Monday.

Mr. Wang welcomed the delegation’s visit and appreciated the message of developing ties between the countries, the ministry said.

“(South Korea’s) new government will pursue a mature development of South Korea-China strategic cooperation partnership based on national interest while continuing to develop the South Korea-US alliance,” Mr. Park said.

The two sides agreed to work towards substantive progress on economic and supply chain cooperation, the ministry said.

In a readout from the Chinese foreign ministry, Mr. Wang said that development of both countries’ ties has shown that good neighborliness, seeking common ground while reserving differences and expanding cooperation are the “right choices.”

Mr. Wang added that China’s policy is to maintain stability and continuity with South Korea and he urged both sides to “improve national sentiment and manage sensitivities properly” to move bilateral relations forward steadily.

Diplomatic ties between the countries have improved since a 2017 dispute over South Korea’s deployment of a US missile defense system, which Beijing opposed.

But they exchanged harsh words in 2023 about critical comments on Beijing by South Korea’s last president, Yoon Suk Yeol. — Reuters

PARONG, India — India fears a planned Chinese mega-dam in Tibet will reduce water flows on a major river by up to 85% during the dry season, according to four sources familiar with the matter and a government analysis seen by Reuters, prompting Delhi to fast-track plans for its own dam to mitigate the effects.

The Indian government has been considering projects since the early 2000s to control the flow of water from Tibet’s Angsi Glacier, which sustains more than 100 million people downstream in China, India and Bangladesh. But the plans have been hindered by fierce and occasionally violent resistance from residents of the border state of Arunachal Pradesh, who fear their villages will be submerged and way of life destroyed by any dam.

Then in December, China announced that it would build the world’s largest hydropower dam in a border county just before the Yarlung Zangbo river crosses into India. That triggered fears in New Delhi that its long-time strategic rival — which has some territorial claims in Arunachal Pradesh — could weaponize its control of the river, which originates in the Angsi Glacier and is known as the Siang and Brahmaputra in India.

India’s largest hydropower company in May moved survey materials under armed police protection near a prospective site of the Upper Siang Multipurpose Storage Dam, which would be the country’s biggest dam, if completed. Senior Indian officials have also been holding meetings about accelerating construction this year, including one organized in July by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office, according to two of the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive government matters.

Delhi’s concerns were described in the undated Indian government analysis of the Chinese dam’s impact, the specifics of which Reuters corroborated with four sources and is reporting for the first time.

Beijing hasn’t released detailed plans about the dam’s construction, but the analysis drew on past work conducted by Indian government-affiliated institutions like the Central Water Commission and accounted for the expected size of the Chinese project, which broke ground in July and will cost nearly $170 billion.

Delhi estimates the Chinese dam will allow Beijing to divert as much as 40 billion cubic meters (BCM) of water, or just over a third of what is received annually at a key border point, according to the sources and the document. The impact would be especially acute in the non-monsoon months, when temperatures rise and lands become barren across swathes of India.

The Upper Siang project would alleviate that with its projected 14 BCM of storage capacity, allowing India to release water during the dry season. That could mean the major regional city of Guwahati, which is dependent on water-intensive industry and farming, would see a reduction in supply of 11%, according to the sources and the document, as opposed to 25% if the Indian dam isn’t built.

The project could also mitigate any move by Beijing to release devastating torrents of water downstream, the sources said.

If the dam is at its minimum drawdown level — where water is stored at less than 50% of its height — it would be able to fully absorb any excess water released from a breach in Chinese infrastructure, according to the document and the sources. India is considering a proposal to keep 30% of its dam empty at any time in order to account for unexpected surges, two of the sources said.

A spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry said in response to Reuters’ questions that the hydropower projects “have undergone rigorous scientific research on safety and environmental protection, and will not adversely impact the water resources, ecology, or geology of downstream countries.”

“China has always maintained a responsible attitude toward the development and utilization of transboundary rivers, and has maintained long-term communication and cooperation with downstream countries such as India and Bangladesh,” the spokesperson added.

Mr. Modi’s office and the Indian ministries responsible for water and external affairs did not respond to Reuters’ questions. State-owned hydropower major National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) also did not return a request for comment.

India’s foreign ministry has said that top diplomat S. Jaishankar raised concerns about the dam during a meeting with his Chinese counterpart on Aug. 18. A Jaishankar deputy also told lawmakers in August that the government was implementing measures to safeguard the lives and livelihoods of citizens in downstream areas, including building the dam.

India has itself been accused by Pakistan, a Chinese ally that it briefly clashed with in May, of weaponizing water. Delhi this year suspended its participation in a 1960 water-sharing treaty with Islamabad and is considering diverting flows from another crucial river away from its downstream neighbor.

An international tribunal has ruled that India must adhere to the agreement but Delhi says the panel lacks jurisdiction.

DEVELOPMENT OR DESTRUCTION?
When NHPC workers moved surveying materials near the village of Parong in May, angry locals damaged their machinery, destroyed a nearby bridge and looted the tents of police sent to guard the operation.

Many of them are members of Arunachal’s Adi community, who live off paddy, orange and sweet lime farms in the mist-shrouded hills and valleys nourished by the Siang.

The villagers have set up makeshift watch posts on regional roads to deny access to NHPC workers. That has forced security personnel to trek miles, often under cover of night, to reach a prospective site of the dam.

At least 16 Adi villages are likely to be lost to the storage area of the dam, directly affecting an estimated 10,000 people, according to two of the sources. Community leaders say more than 100,000 people will be impacted overall.

“The cardamom, paddy, jackfruit and pear we grow on this land help educate our children and support our family,” said Odoni Palo Pabin, an Adi grocer and mother of two. “We will fight the dam to death.”

The dam has the support of Arunachal’s chief minister, who is a member of Mr. Modi’s party and has called the Chinese project an existential threat.

The project will “ensure water security and provide flood moderation to counter any potential water surges,” the state government said in a statement, adding that it decided in June to engage in detailed compensation discussions with families that could be affected by the dam.

Lawmaker Alo Libang, an Adi who represents an area that would be submerged by the Indian project, said he believed locals could be convinced to move if they received generous compensation.

NHPC has plans to spend more than $3 million on education and emergency infrastructure to incentivize the villagers to move elsewhere, three of the sources said, citing instructions from Mr. Modi’s office.

In one sign of progress, three villages in the area recently agreed to let NHPC officials carry out dam-related work, according to the Arunachal government and dozens of locals.

India has a history of activist movements against large dams, which have sometimes slowed these projects by years or forced them to scale down.

Even if the Upper Siang dam gets the go-ahead, it could take a decade to build after breaking ground, according to four of the sources. That means the project would likely be completed after China’s project, which Beijing expects to start generating power by the early-to-mid 2030s.

The delay means an Indian project would be vulnerable during construction if Beijing suddenly releases water during the monsoon season, triggering a surge that could wash away temporary dams, two of the sources said.

International experts and Adi activists have also warned that building large dams in seismically active Tibet and Arunachal could heighten risks for downstream communities.

The Chinese “dam is being built in a zone of high seismicity and in a zone that experiences extreme weather events,” said Sayanangshu Modak, an expert on the India-China water relationship at the University of Arizona.

“These kinds of extreme weather events trigger landslides, mudslides, glacial lake outburst flooding,” he said. “So that raises concerns about dam safety… it’s a very legitimate concern and India should engage with China.” — Reuters