The U.S. Department of Agriculture has detected New World screwworm in a cow in Zavala County, Texas. The parasitic larvae of the New World screwworm fly can infect and eventually kill livestock and other mammals, as well as humans and even birds. While native to many parts of the Americas, the United States had previously eradicated the pest all the way down to Panama. But a relaxed approach has led to a comeback, with screwworms making their way up through Central America and into Mexico last year. Experts warned its return to the U.S. was inevitable. The USDA has already taken steps to ramp up fighting the pest, using grants and other measures. “Protecting our livestock industry is a national security issue of the utmost importance, and USDA is wasting no time in taking action,” said Dudley Hoskins, USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs. “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.”
Read more at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
