Second New World Screwworm Case Detected in U.S. Texas

(MENAFN) The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed Friday a second detection of the New World Screwworm (NWS) in Texas, marking a fresh case in the same county where the pest was first recorded on American soil in decades earlier this week.

The newly identified case involves a one-month-old calf in Zavala County, located approximately 9 kilometres from the initial confirmed detection reported Wednesday — which involved a three-week-old calf — the USDA said.

NWS is a dangerous parasitic pest whose larvae burrow into the living tissue of wounds, feeding on flesh and inflicting severe damage on infected hosts. The pest poses a threat to livestock, pets, and wildlife, and in rare instances, humans.

Federal authorities said they are working in close coordination with Texas state officials to contain the outbreak. An emergency response team from the U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has been deployed to the affected area, with mobile response units operational on the ground and sterile screwworm fly releases already underway — totalling approximately 6 million flies per week through combined aerial and ground operations.

Movement control zones have been established around the affected area, and surveillance efforts have been significantly intensified. Treatment supplies are being distributed through the Texas Animal Health Commission, the USDA confirmed.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins stated Thursday that federal and state authorities are fully implementing an emergency response plan to prevent the pest from spreading within the country.

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