USDA confirms second screwworm fly found in Texas

The Hill ^ | 06-05-26 | Sophie Brams

[OrangeHoof]

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed a second case of a flesh-eating screwworm parasite in Texas on Friday, as it races to contain and eradicate the outbreak before it severely impacts the cattle population.

A New World screwworm was detected in a one-month-old calf in Zavala County after testing a “number of suspected cases,” according to USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). It was found less than six miles away from the ranch where the pest was reported in another young calf earlier this week.

( Snip )

The New World screwworm is a species of parasitic fly that feeds on the living tissue or flesh of warm-blooded animals, including humans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Its larvae hatch into maggots that burrow into the live tissue, causing painful, often foul-smelling wounds.

It is typically found in South America and parts of the Caribbean; however, APHIS notes that it has been steadily creeping north into Central America and Mexico since 2023.

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TOPICS: Agriculture; Food; Health/Medicine; Pets/Animals
KEYWORDS: beef; cattle; food; insects; screwworm; texas; tx; usda

[Georgia Girl 2]

I remember that also. I think they do that with mosquitos too.

[odawg]

“What is the protocol for control and eradication?”

The guest on Steve Bannon’s show just lied through his teeth when he said that the USDA is doing nothing to stop the spread of the pest, Sterile male flies by the hundreds of millions are being released to stop the infestation. They will succeed as they have done in the past.

An infested cow (it attacks any animal) can be saved if gotten to in time using ivermectin, etc. It is beyond a nasty plague.

[Carry_Okie]

Thanks, good to see the USDA is doing its job.

[Steely Tom]

The lab which did the research, and produced the irradiated flies was in Kerrville, TX. It was not a huge facility. I guess you can raise millions of screw worms in a modest facility. They would drop boxes of the sterile male flies across Texas, successfully eradicating screw worms in Tx.

Amazing that you would be able to fill in that knowledge, after so many years. Thank you for that.

In the article, I remember a black-and-white picture of a horrible festering ulcer on some farm animal, a cow or a steer, caused by the screwworm larvae. I can still conjure it up in my memory, after more than sixty years.