Overview

• Gov. Greg Abbott directed the Texas Animal Health Commission and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to establish the Texas New World Screwworm Response Team to lead prevention and response efforts.
• The newly formed team will oversee statewide preparedness, training and information sharing with livestock producers, wildlife managers and the public.
• The USDA has halted live animal imports at the southern border after outbreaks in Mexico and allocated $8.5 million for a sterile fly dispersal site at Moore Air Base.
• A separate $20 million retrofit of a facility near Mexico’s southern border will produce sterilized flies for aerial releases designed to contain the pest before it reaches U.S. herds.
• Sen. John Cornyn’s STOP Screwworms Act would authorize federal funding to build a new USDA sterile fly production plant as part of long-term defenses.