looking for a YA sci-fi book that has parasites

[Maas-iveFan23]

I'm looking for a book I read in primary school/early high school and I only vaguely remember parts of the book.
here's what I do remember.
There are parasites that infect the mind
a village flees and traps it in a cow.
The protagonist is a girl, who winds up in a village where the young boys have a competition to win brides/abducted girls.
they have to see how far they can walk while being whipped, I think its called 'the blizzard' or something.
it has been annoying me for so long, can anyone help me?

 

[Parson]

No clue, but it would help if you could put a general date on it. Like "in the 90's" so no book written after 1999 is correct. Was it assigned reading? Is the setting earth? Would you consider the book Fantasy or Science Fiction?

Read through this and you might get some more help in making it easier to answer your question: Book Search

Good luck.