Two more cases of the New World screwworm have been confirmed in Texas, demonstrating the difficulty of stopping the spread of a pest that could potentially devastate the nation’s cattle industry, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Monday.
The screwworm is actually a fly, which produces a larva that eats live flesh instead of dead material. Females lay their eggs in open wounds of any warm-blooded animal, such as cattle, but wildlife, pets and occasionally even humans can be infested.
The USDA said the new cases were found in a calf and a dog, hundreds of miles apart in La Salle and Andrews counties. That brings the total number of confirmed cases to four. The screwworm was first discovered in a 3-week-old calf last week, and a second case was found only miles away in a young calf.
It could be eradicated again, however we have to have a functioning USDA to coordinate it.
In March 2025, funding was cut by USDA for animal disease control and prevention, including Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, New World Screwworm, and African Swine Fever from several agencies…Specifically, funding was targeted to monitoring and responding to New World Screwworm, preventing the spread of the disease to the U.S.
The U.S. livestock industry is facing a critical situation due to federal budget cuts that are impacting animal disease prevention and control. Hundreds of veterinarians, support staff and lab workers at the animal health arm of the USDA have left under the Trump administration’s push for resignations, according to three sources familiar with the situation, leaving fewer specialists to respond to animal disease outbreaks.