Dino Martins on Cyclospora, Screwworms, and Our Lives with Parasites

Entomologist Dino Martins joins the Fiction/Non/Fiction podcast to put two headline-grabbing parasites in context: the Cyclospora outbreak sickening thousands across the U.S., and the New World screwworm hitting cattle herds in the South. Cyclospora, Literary Hub reports, is a microscopic parasite related to the one that causes malaria, and it can only complete its life cycle by invading cells lining the intestine. The screwworm, meanwhile, is a fly larva that burrows into living flesh through wounds, causing festering injuries that can weaken and kill livestock if untreated. Martins notes it was largely defeated decades ago using the sterile insect technique, and its current resurgence raises fresh questions about livestock density and land use.

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