Texas Screwworm Alert
USDA Confirms Suspected New World Screwworm Fly Case Threatening South Texas Cattle
Federal officials are racing to confirm whether the New World screwworm fly has entered the United States for the first time in decades. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a suspected case in Zavala County, south Texas, on June 3, after larvae were found in the umbilical wound of a newborn calf near La Pryor. Samples are now being tested at the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, according to USDA.
If confirmed, it would be only the third detected case in the U.S. since the 1970s — and the first suspected breach of the Texas ranching heartland. Livestock futures dropped more than $5 per hundredweight the same day, as traders braced for potential quarantines and supply-chain disruptions, Drovers reported.
Flesh-Eating Larvae Found in a Newborn Calf's Wound
On June 2, samples were collected from two calves on a ranch near La Pryor, Texas. One infestation was found specifically in the umbilical cord wound of a newborn calf. Texas State Representative Don McLaughlin, who represents the Uvalde and Zavala County area, viewed photos and videos of the wound, according to Reuters. The USDA formally announced the suspected case the following day via a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
The New World screwworm (*Cochliomyia hominivorax*) is a parasitic fly unlike most. It lays eggs in open wounds, and the hatched larvae eat living flesh. It is not spread animal to animal. Instead, the fly finds and infests individual wounds. Experts at Texas A&M AgriLife warn that South Texas's large deer population gives the fly a perfect hiding place away from inspectors.
How America Beat This Pest Before — and Why It Came Back
The U.S. eradicated the screwworm from the Southeast by 1959 and the Southwest by 1966. Officials did it using the Sterile Insect Technique, or SIT. Scientists raise male flies, sterilize them with radiation, and release them by the millions. When they mate with wild females, no viable eggs are produced, and the population collapses. The USDA currently releases 100 million sterile flies per week in Mexico, according to KSAT.
The current crisis traces back to late 2024, when the fly broke through a biological containment zone in the Darien Gap in Panama and began migrating north through Central America and Mexico. Mexican officials recorded 26,216 cases across the country during the 2024–2026 migration, CBS News reported. On May 28, a case was confirmed in a goat in Coahuila, Mexico — just 25 miles from the Texas border, the closest confirmed case to the U.S. in over 50 years.
Secretary Rollins Meets Ranchers as Billions of Dollars Hang in the Balance
On the evening of June 3, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins met with 50 cattle ranchers and Texas Governor Greg Abbott to discuss the threat. Rollins, a native Texan, said the situation is
Secretary Rollins Meets Ranchers as Billions Hang in the Balance
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins met with 50 cattle ranchers and Texas Governor Greg Abbott on June 3. She said the potential case is
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