New World screwworm identified in Texas calf prompts USDA action

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has confirmed the detection of a New World screwworm in a three-week-old calf in Zavala County, Texas, which was found to have larvae in its umbilical area. In response, the USDA has established a 12-mile "infested zone" around the detection site and implemented quarantines. The department will also increase traps for the screwworms along the U.S.-Mexico border and has set up an Incident Command Team in collaboration with the Texas Animal Health Commission.

Dudley Hoskins, the USDA's under secretary for marketing and regulatory programs, emphasized the agency's commitment to eradicating the screwworm, stating, "USDA invested heavily in the tools needed to eliminate NWS ever since cases started increasing in Central America and Mexico. The United States has defeated this pest before, and we will do it again." This comes after a screwworm was detected last week in Mexico, located just 25 miles from the U.S. border.

The USDA has reported that over 26,200 cases of screwworms have been recorded in Mexico, with approximately 2,700 still active. These maggots can infest livestock and, in rare instances, humans by laying eggs in open wounds or orifices, leading to the consumption of living tissue. The New World screwworm is predominantly found in South America and the Caribbean, but has been increasingly detected in Central America and Mexico over the past three years.