Nine Cases of New World Screwworm Confirmed in Texas and New Mexico

Eight cases of New World screwworm have been declared in Texas and one case in New Mexico. The parasite, eradicated from the United States in 1966, reappeared after spreading north from South America. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins appeared at a sterile fly dispersal station near La Pryor, Texas, on Thursday, June 11, 2026.

She told reporters on Monday that every model had predicted the screwworm would reach Texas by early last summer and that the Trump administration had bought an additional year to prepare. Rollins stated there had been zero impact to the screwworm mission area from the reduction in force.

She told the Senate Agriculture Committee on Wednesday that the Biden administration’s open border policies combined with Mexican cartel actions allowed the screwworm to move north for the first time in 50 years.

Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico cited reckless cuts to the Department of Agriculture made last year as a factor in the outbreak. Rep. Jimmy Gomez stated that the screwworm monitoring program in Central America was cut by the Trump administration’s DOGE in early 2025.

Sen. Raphael Warnock and Rep. Shri Thanedar argue that DOGE workforce cuts last year to the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service left the country vulnerable. Democrats say the Trump administration bears some blame for temporarily reversing a Biden-era USDA decision to close southern ports of entry to live cattle imports last year.

The Texas Animal Health Commission stated that lots of factors spurred the outbreak. Communications director Erin Robinson said animal movements are a factor in the spread through Mexico into Texas and that the Panama sterile fly facility is at maximum capacity. The USDA and most Texas officials say a lack of sterile fly facilities forms the core problem in tackling the outbreak.