Overview
- The declaration authorizes the Texas New World Screwworm Response Team to use all state resources and directs Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Texas Animal Health Commission to form a joint team.
- Texas officials report no detections in the state, while multiple cases in Tamaulipas remain active with the nearest about 197–200 miles from the border, including a calf case confirmed this month.
- Abbott says Texas is partnering with the USDA on a Domestic Sterile New World Screwworm production facility in Edinburg, reported at $750 million.
- Preventive steps already underway include USDA sterile-fly breeding at Moore Air Base, a temporary halt on imports of live cattle, horses and bison from Mexico, and border trapping by the Texas Department of Agriculture.
- The parasite’s larvae burrow into living tissue in livestock, pets and wildlife and can rarely affect people, creating serious animal-health and economic risks.