Overview
- The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed Wednesday that New World screwworm larvae were found in the umbilical area of a three‑week‑old calf in Zavala County, Texas, and a unified incident command with state partners was activated.
- Authorities established a roughly 12‑mile (20‑kilometer) detection and quarantine zone with checkpoints and animal movement restrictions while reporting no evidence of wider infestation so far.
- The response centers on the Sterile Insect Technique: officials say about 4 million sterile flies were already being released weekly and the USDA is accelerating releases with targets to scale to tens of millions per week later this year and build a large production facility in South Texas.
- Public‑health and food‑safety officials say the infected calf is being treated, human cases are rare, and meat is not considered a food‑safety risk, but veterinarians and ranchers are urged to inspect wounds and report suspicious lesions immediately.
- The detection follows a multi‑year northward advance of screwworm through Central America and Mexico and risks large economic losses for Texas livestock if the pest spreads, with state estimates of losses running into the low billions.