New Restrictions on Animal Movement Could Fight Spread of New World Screwworm
Texas and New Mexico officials expanded quarantine zones as the parasite spread to livestock and one pet dog, while states brace for farther north movement.
- On Monday, Texas animal health officials confirmed 11 statewide cases of the New World screwworm and expanded quarantine zones to contain the parasitic outbreak.
- Historically eradicated in the 1960s, the New World screwworm is a parasitic fly that enters animal wounds to feed on living tissue, causing severe injuries if untreated.
- Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins visited Texas last week to participate in sterile fly dispersal, a key USDA tool releasing sterile males to suppress population growth.
- Officials in New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma, California, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania are monitoring livestock after 12 total cases emerged, threatening to increase already rising beef prices.
- Michael Kelsey, executive vice president of the Oklahoma Cattlemen, expressed confidence in modern mitigation, stating "we're confident that we can get a hold of this.
15 Articles
15 Articles
Flesh-Eating Fly Returns To Texas Border
A flesh-eating fly that America beat decades ago is back at Texas’s doorstep, and the main weapon we need to stop it is years behind schedule. Story Snapshot Confirmed screwworm cases in Texas livestock have triggered a quarantine zone and a disaster-style response. The parasite migrated north after a major re-emergence in Mexico, threatening ranchers,...
Screwworm spreads past a containment zone, alarming the U.S. cattle industry
The New World screwworm is a parasitic fly whose larvae infest living tissue in warm-blooded animals, causing painful wounds, serious infections, and potentially death if not treated, Bloomberg reports. After being largely eliminated from the United States for decades, it has recently begun spreading northward from Mexico into parts of the southern U.S., with detections now appearing beyond the original containment zone in Texas. This expansion…
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