{"id":143737,"date":"2026-01-30T06:16:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T06:16:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/143737\/"},"modified":"2026-01-30T06:16:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T06:16:08","slug":"texas-gov-greg-abbott-issues-disaster-declaration-over-screwworm-threat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/143737\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Gov Greg Abbott issues disaster declaration over screwworm threat"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!\n <\/p>\n

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott<\/a> issued a statewide disaster declaration on Thursday to prevent the potential spread of the New World screwworm fly into the Lone Star State, as he seeks to better protect livestock and wildlife.<\/p>\n

The governor’s declaration allows the Texas New World Screwworm Response Team to use all state government prevention and response resources to prevent the spread of the parasite into Texas.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0New World\u00a0screwworm fly is spreading north from Mexico<\/a> toward the border it shares with the U.S.<\/p>\n

FLESH-EATING PARASITE CASE DETECTED IN US TRAVELER RETURNING FROM CENTRAL AMERICA<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Gov. <\/p>\n

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a statewide disaster declaration to prevent the potential spread of the New World screwworm fly into the Lone Star State. (Brandon Bell\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

“Although the\u00a0New World\u00a0screwworm fly\u00a0is not yet present in Texas or the U.S., its northward spread from Mexico toward the U.S. southern border poses a serious threat to Texas’ livestock industry and wildlife,” Abbott said in a statement.<\/p>\n

“State law authorizes me to act to prevent a threat of infestation that could cause severe damage to Texas property, and I will not wait for such harm to reach our livestock and wildlife,” he continued.<\/p>\n

With his statewide disaster declaration, the governor said the Texas New World Screwworm Response Team “can fully utilize all state government prevention and response resources to prevent the re-emergence of this destructive parasite.”<\/p>\n

\"Texas <\/p>\n

The\u00a0New World\u00a0screwworm fly is spreading north from Mexico toward the border it shares with the U.S. (Ron Jenkins\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Texas officials<\/a> are prepared\u00a0to fully eradicate the pest\u00a0if need be, the governor said.<\/p>\n

Abbott has taken preemptive action against the New World screwworm threat by directing the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Texas Animal Health Commission to establish a joint Texas New World Screwworm Response Team.<\/p>\n

The governor also highlighted a partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to create a new $750 million domestic sterile New World Screwworm production facility near Edinburg, Texas.<\/p>\n

USDA ANNOUNCES $750M STERILE FLY BREEDING PROGRAM TO PROTECT CATTLE FROM MEXICAN FLESH-EATING MAGGOTS<\/a><\/p>\n

\"USDA <\/p>\n

The governor highlighted a partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to create a new $750 million domestic sterile New World Screwworm production facility near Edinburg, Texas. (David Ake\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/a><\/p>\n

The Department of Agriculture said in August that the New World screwworm is a “devastating pest.”<\/p>\n

“When NWS fly larvae (maggots) burrow into the flesh of a living animal, they cause serious, often deadly damage to the animal. NWS can infest livestock, pets, wildlife, occasionally birds and, in rare cases, people. It is not only a threat to our ranching community, but it is a threat to our food supply and our national security,” the department said at the time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a statewide disaster declaration on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":59098,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[392,584,287,27,29,28,393,2795],"class_list":{"0":"post-143737","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas","8":"tag-greg-abbott","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-politics","11":"tag-texas","12":"tag-texas-headlines","13":"tag-texas-news","14":"tag-us","15":"tag-wild-nature"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143737\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}