US confirms three new cases of flesh-eating screwworm in livestock | US news
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Monday confirmed three new cases of Earth screwworm, two in Texas and another in New Mexico, according to the agency’s animal health arm.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said the two cases in Texas affected a calf in La Salle County and a goat in Gillespie County.
The fifth case reported in a dog in Andrews County early Monday will be reclassified as the first case identified in New Mexico, the service announced.
The veterinarian who reported the case was in Texas, but the dog lived in a home in Lea County, New Mexico, on the Texas border, the agency said.
“This situation is evolving, and we expect new information to emerge as our investigation continues,” Dudley Hoskins, USDA undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs, said in the statement.
On Monday, Texas governor Greg Abbott announced that the state’s emergency operations center is increasing its response level and therefore using more resources to combat the spread of the New World screwworm.
The New World screwworm is a serious pest that can infest all types of warm-blooded animals, including livestock, pets, wildlife and, in rare cases, humans. Larvae enter the living tissues of animals and cause serious wounds, animal suffering and significant economic losses.
The second case of the flesh-eating screwworm parasite was confirmed by the USDA in Texas on Friday, appearing just miles from where its first detection in the United States in decades was reported days earlier.
Reuters reported In May 2025, after pressure from the Trump administration to resign, hundreds of veterinarians, support staff and laboratory workers in the USDA’s animal health arm left, leaving fewer experts to respond to animal disease outbreaks and increasing concerns about preparedness.
A widespread resurgence of the New World screwworm significantly threatens the economy of Texas, which now produces cattle, due to higher labor and treatment costs as well as animal mortality.
The U.S.-Mexico border has been closed to live cattle imports as the disease has moved northward for more than a year, causing the $100 billion U.S. beef industry to plummet to a 75-year low.
Protective staff contributed
