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4d ago

Screwworms Detected in Texas and New Mexico, Prompting Quarantines

Officials are racing to contain the parasitic fly using quarantines, surveillance, sterile male releases, expanded breeding facilities.

Paul Janda, a cattle rancher from Schulenburg, Texas, examines documents covering economics and the threat of the New World Screwworm parasite during the Fayette County Cow/Calf Clinic and Trade Show in La Grange, Texas, U.S., May 1, 2026. REUTERS/Joel Angel Juarez/File Photo
AUSTIN, TEXAS - JUNE 5: A view inside the Texas Division of Emergency Management State Operations Center as they respond to the New World Screwworm threat on June 5, 2026 in Austin, Texas. The first case of New World Screwworm infection, since its eradication from the country in 1966, was reported in Texas Wednesday by the United States Department of Agriculture. (Photo by Joel Angel Juarez/Getty Images)
AUSTIN, TEXAS - JUNE 5: A poster with information on the New World Screwworm is displayed during a press conference with government officials at the Texas Division of Emergency Management State Operations Center on June 5, 2026 in Austin, Texas. The first case of New World Screwworm infection, since its eradication from the country in 1966, was reported in Texas Wednesday by the United States Department of Agriculture. (Photo by Joel Angel Juarez/Getty Images)
LA PRYOR, TEXAS - JUNE 6: Cattle roam a field on June 6, 2026 in La Pryor, Texas. The first case of the New World Screwworm parasite, since its eradication from the country in 1966, was reported in Zavala County's La Pryor on Wednesday by the United States Department of Agriculture. (Photo by Joel Angel Juarez/Getty Images)

Overview

  • U.S. authorities confirmed the first recent detection in a calf in Zavala County on June 3 and have since identified six infected animals across Texas and a dog in Lea County, New Mexico.
  • Texas has established quarantine zones and movement controls in multiple counties while federal teams have stepped up trapping, inspections and field treatment of affected animals.
  • Teams are releasing sterile male screwworm flies to halt reproduction with roughly 4 million flies deployed weekly now and plans to scale output through a new U.S. facility at Moore Air Base and a converted Mexican site.
  • The New Mexico dog case is unexplained because the animal is not known to have recently traveled to infested areas, prompting local searches for fly populations and broader questions about how far the pest has spread.
  • Experts say human infection in the U.S. is unlikely and beef is safe to eat, but officials warn the outbreak could sharply hurt livestock producers and raise costs given the nation’s low cattle inventories and prior estimates of large state economic losses.