A San Antonio woman is suing Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen claiming she unknowingly ingested flesh-eating screwworms in her rice and beans.Karen Goode is seeking $1million in damages in her case against the food chain and its local franchise, Sugarland’s Z&H Foods Inc, Kens5 reported.
The woman allegedly ate the meal at the restaurant on 506 S. WW White Road in San Antonio.
According to the lawsuit filed on Tuesday in Bexar County district court, the flesh-eating insects entered her digestive tract and laid eggs in the lining of her small intestine.
When the eggs hatched, they 'infested Plaintiff’s body and began to eat Plaintiff alive from the inside-out.'
New World screwworms are known to infest livestock and warm-blooded animals including humans, according to the US Department of Agriculture.
Although most human cases are rare, it can be fatal if left untreated. The screwworms have been mostly eradicated from the US, but there have been reports in the last decade.
Goode said she was 'ravaged by E.coli and Helicobacter Pylori bacteria infection, infestation of flesh eating screwworms into her body, injury to her neck, digestive track, shoulders and arm' according to the complaint.
Goode's lawyer, Patrick J. Stolmeier said the woman became so ill she could not work and ultimately lost her business, house, and vehicles.
The lawsuit was filed on February 7, but Stolmeier did not specify the date of the incident or if it was reported to the local health department.
A Popeyes spokesperson said the company could not comment on pending cases.