USDA Expects to Contain Screwworm Case in Texas
Mediterranean fly larvae are placed in trays to be fed inside a bio-factory as Mexico's government reconditions a plant to become the new sterile screwworm fly facility, part of the country's effort to eradicate the flesh-eating parasite that threatens its livestock industry and raises tensions with the United States, in Metapa de Dominguez, Mexico, October 17, 2025. (Reuters File)
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U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said on Thursday that the USDA believes it can contain a case of New World screwworm in Texas, the first case in the state since 1966.
“We do not believe this will be an infestation. We’ll be able to isolate each case,” Rollins said during testimony before the House Agriculture Committee.
“We’ve got the teams on the ground ready to go,” she added.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wednesday confirmed a screwworm case in a calf in La Pryor, Texas, a town about 30 miles (48 km) northeast of the U.S.-Mexico border. A screwworm outbreak could deal an economic blow to the U.S. cattle industry.
(Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington, Editing by Franklin Paul)
