Overview
- The USDA said three new positives — a lamb in Crockett County and two calves in Edwards County — raised domestic confirmed detections to 15 and prompted immediate sterile‑fly dispersal flights over Crockett County.
- Texas authorities have established infested and adjacent surveillance zones with quarantine orders that bar warm‑blooded animals from leaving affected areas without inspection and movement certificates from the Texas Animal Health Commission.
- The Sterile Insect Technique works by releasing sterilized male flies to mate with females that mate only once, which prevents offspring but does not kill maggots already feeding in wounds, so new cases may appear for weeks as the fly life cycle runs its course.
- The FDA has issued emergency authorizations for medications to treat companion animals and officials are treating infected livestock, while animal‑welfare groups warn movement restrictions could strain rural shelters and force difficult decisions about transfers and euthanasia.
- The screwworm was eradicated from the U.S. in the 1960s using sterile‑fly releases, but current production is limited so federal and Texas plans include a major sterile‑fly facility and expanded weekly releases to try to prevent establishment and protect the livestock industry.