The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the first case of a screwworm infestation in a human was confirmed in the U.S., after the patient returned to the country from El Salvador, and was confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of Diseases.

The patient recovered with no evidence of having infected other humans or animals, state health officials said in a statement.

“This is the first human case of screwworm myiasis (parasitic infestation of fly larvae) associated with travel from a country affected by an identified outbreak in the United States,” HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon said, adding that the risk to American public health is currently “very low.”

Screwworm myiasis is a parasitic infestation of fly larvae, or maggots, caused by parasitic flies that feed on living tissue, the CDC reports.

“When the fly larvae (maggots) burrow into the flesh of a live animal, they cause severe, often fatal, damage,” the USDA states. “This larva can infest livestock, pets, wildlife, occasionally birds, and rarely, people.”

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department says screwworm flies lay eggs in “open wounds or orifices of living tissue, such as nostrils, eyes, or mouths,” an infestation and painful condition known as myiasis.

A recent outbreak of the screwworm in Central America has raised fears it could spread to the United States and devastate the cattle industry, according to The Washington Post.

Screwworms have been virtually eradicated in the U.S. over the past 50 years, and cattle entering the country at the southern border are subject to inspections and quarantines.

A screwworm outbreak in cattle could have serious economic consequences in the U.S., threatening more than $100,Billion in economic activity linked to the livestock industry, according to estimates from the Department of Agriculture.