Flesh-eating screwworm found in Texas calf as ranchers brace for possible spread

The New World Screwworm (NWS) – a parasitic alert that eats the soma of livestock and different warm-blooded animals – has arrived successful South Texas.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) confirmed connected June 3 that NWS larvae had been identified successful a three-week-old calf’s umbilical country successful Zavala County, Texas. As of June 11, national officials had confirmed six full cases, Fox7 Austin reported.

According to the USDA, "NWS is simply a superior pest that affects livestock, pets, wildlife, and little commonly, radical and birds. NWS larvae (maggots) burrow into the soma of surviving animals, causing superior harm to livestock and economical losses."

CLICK HERE FOR MORE LIFESTYLE STORIES

Screwworms don’t marque nutrient unsafe to eat, but they bash endanger to rise beef prices that are already astatine a grounds high.

The USDA is led by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins. On May 11, 2025, she announced "the suspension of unrecorded cattle, equine and bison imports done U.S. ports of introduction on the confederate borderline owed to the continued and accelerated northward dispersed of NWS successful Mexico."

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, right, and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, beforehand left, clasp a quality league with ranchers, researchers and officials astatine the Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory successful Kerrville, Texas, Monday, June 8, 2026. (Eric Gay/AP)

Models projected the NWS would participate the U.S. successful 2025, "but acknowledgment to the hard enactment crossed the full Trump medication and our industry, authorities and section partners, we were capable to bargain clip for this moment," said Dudley Hoskins, USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs.

"USDA invested heavy successful the tools needed to destruct NWS ever since cases started expanding successful Central America and Mexico," Hoskins said. "The United States has defeated this pest before, and we volition bash it again."

The USDA announced that "an APHIS onslaught squad is already on-site successful Texas." The bureau said it has mounted a "rapid, businesslike response" that involves releasing sterile antheral flies and establishing a question power portion to quarantine livestock.

TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ

Beginning successful the 1920s and 1930s, USDA scientists began NWS eradication efforts. Part of the solution was the Screwworm Adult Suppression System (SWASS), which lures flies to a bait substance that contains insecticides that termination them earlier they tin reproduce. Since pistillate flies lone reproduce once, they besides released sterile antheral flies truthful the females would mate and nutrient nary offspring.

In 1966, Agricultural Research Magazine declared, "The screwworm has been eradicated from the United States."

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller has been captious of the USDA’s effect to the caller NWS outbreak.

As screwworms person been detected successful South Texas, the USDA has issued guidelines astir what to bash if radical brushwood them. (Joel Angel Juarez/Getty Images)

"For months, the screwworm has precocious rapidly done Mexico successful spite of the USDA’s existing gameplan," Miller said successful a statement. "Even though billions of sterile flies person been dispersed by USDA, the screwworm has inactive precocious implicit 1,100 miles from confederate Mexico to Texas, and USDA has missed an important component. Now that it appears the archetypal screwworm has arrived successful Texas, the consequences of that determination are present staring america successful the face."

Miller said helium "personally provided probe and the SWASS bait look to Rollins and her squad connected 3 abstracted occasions portion the screwworm continued its northward trek to Texas."

He added, "Instead of utilizing each disposable tool, USDA moved excessively dilatory and relied solely connected a partial solution that takes years to afloat implement."

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER

Miller asked President Trump to instrumentality power of the NWS response.

"Cut done the bureaucracy, deploy SWASS instantly and propulsion each disposable national assets astatine this menace earlier it becomes a full-blown cultivation disaster," helium urged the president.

As Texas Land Commissioner, Dawn Buckingham, M.D., oversees much than 13 cardinal acres of authorities land, including astir three-quarters of a cardinal acres of grazing and hunting leases managed by the Texas General Land Office. Her bureau sent a missive to Rollins and Texas politician Greg Abbott offering afloat entree to the lands to enactment the government’s effect to "the active, escalating menace of the New World Screwworm."

Screwworms endanger livestock herds, specified arsenic this 1 pictured connected Texas General Land Office spot successful West Texas (Brewster Ranch), arsenic they burrow with crisp teeth into the soma of cattle and provender connected their tissue. (Texas General Land Office/Fox News)

"This is simply a large deal," Buckingham told Fox News Digital. "It's going to beryllium a existent problem, and it doesn't conscionable interaction our cattle, but it impacts each of the chaotic animals arsenic good arsenic our dogs and our cats. We privation to beryllium definite that we get these insects retired of our state."

The Land Commission has offered entree to spot to location workers, turn sterile flies, acceptable up traps, immoderate is needed, Buckingham said.

According to Buckingham, the Land Commission met with South Texas ranchers "many months ago" erstwhile they observed screwworm flies marching up done Central America and Mexico. She said the pests person been dilatory moving their mode backmost aft they were pushed down to South America respective decades ago.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

"[Screwworms] travel and spell with the satellite colonisation being truthful mobile," Buckingham said. "It's precise casual for insects to travel, whether they leap connected a effect motortruck oregon they travel connected animals oregon whether they've infected a person. Diseases determination overmuch much rapidly these days than they utilized to."

Buckingham added that, "The bully quality is we've got medicine to dainty [screwworms], and we cognize however to halt the propagation of the insect, truthful we should beryllium capable to get it nether beauteous bully control. It's not reinventing the wheel. We fought them before. We'll combat them successfully again."