U.S. Detects New World Screwworm in Texas Calf for First Time Since 1966

Agriculture officials confirmed the New World screwworm fly in a three-week-old calf in Texas, marking the first detection in the state since 1966. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the finding Wednesday. The larva consumes living flesh after eggs are laid in open wounds. The affected calf is expected to recover with treatment.

Quarantine and containment steps Texas State Veterinarian Bud Dinges established a 12-mile quarantine zone around the property. Movement of any warm-blooded animal requires prior inspection. Officials have not detected the fly elsewhere in the country.

>"There is no threat of mass infestation.

response measures The species was last contained in Panama until late 2024. The most recent U.S. outbreak occurred in the Florida Keys in 2016 among wild deer. The USDA has allocated $21 million to convert a fruit-fly facility in southern Mexico into a screwworm breeding site.

A new sterile-fly dispersal center opened in southern Texas, and construction began on a $750 million factory. Eight thousand fly traps are deployed along the border. More than 58,000 fly samples and 19,000 wild animals have been tested. " — Texas State Veterinarian Bud Dinges The agency previously closed the U.S.-Mexico border to livestock imports from Mexico.

Female screwworm flies mate only once; releasing sterile males reduces future egg hatches.