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Screwworm Detected 25 Miles From Texas Border, USDA Says

Expanded sterile‑fly production alongside tightened livestock controls aims to block a parasite capable of destroying cattle, costing the industry billions.

Communities along the U.S-Mexico border are bracing for the New World screwworm, a fly that poses a major threat to Texas' billion-dollar cattle industry.
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Overview

  • The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed on Tuesday that a New World screwworm was detected in Coahuila, Mexico, about 25 miles from the Texas border.
  • USDA officials say the pest is not currently present in the United States and that the current risk to U.S. livestock and people remains very low.
  • Federal and state agencies have stepped up actions that include deploying USDA response teams, releasing sterile male flies, closing some southern livestock ports, and building larger sterile‑fly production facilities in Texas and Mexico.
  • USDA data show at least 26,000 screwworm cases in Mexico with thousands still active, and the department warns an establishment in U.S. herds could cost the cattle industry billions of dollars.
  • The move north follows years of detections in Central America and Mexico and has officials urging ranchers and veterinarians to report suspect infestations and watch wounds on animals closely.