LITTLE ROCK, AR (KATV) \u2014 Arkansas livestock organizations are urging producers to closely monitor their animals following confirmation of the first U.S. case of New World screwworm in years.<\/p>\n
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said the flesh-eating parasite was found in a 3-week-old calf in South Texas. <\/p>\n
Federal officials said it is the only confirmed case in the country so far, though ranchers and animal health experts are watching for any signs of additional spread.<\/p>\n
U.S. Sen. John Boozman of Arkansas and U.S. Rep. Glenn \u201cGT\u201d Thompson of Pennsylvania, who lead their respective agriculture committees, said the detection should not cause panic.<\/p>\n
In a joint statement, they said USDA has spent more than a year working with federal, state and animal health partners to prepare for a potential domestic case and is now moving into a response phase focused on surveillance and containment.<\/p>\n
Arkansas cattle industry leaders said they have been preparing for this possibility for months.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been preparing for this outbreak for 18 months,\u201d said Michelle Bufkin Horton, executive vice president of the Arkansas Cattlemen\u2019s Association.<\/p>\n
Horton said those efforts included coordination with USDA, state agriculture officials and animal health experts to develop response plans aimed at protecting livestock and slowing the parasite\u2019s spread.<\/p>\n
Arkansas producers are now being encouraged to increase surveillance of their herds, particularly watching for wounds, which can be entry points for the parasite.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe you check them every day, but not a real intense looking in their eyes or looking for wounds and things,\u201d said Addie Stamps, director of commodity activities and economics for the Arkansas Farm Bureau. \u201cDo those intense checks to make sure that you catch it early.\u201d<\/p>\n
Experts also recommend strengthening fly-control efforts and contacting a veterinarian if unusual symptoms appear.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you have something that looks unusual, go ahead and reach out to your veterinarian,\u201d Horton said.<\/p>\n
While federal and state officials continue monitoring the situation, industry groups emphasize there is no risk to the food supply.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis remains an animal health issue, not a food safety issue,\u201d Horton said.<\/p>\n
\u201cContinue buying beef,\u201d Stamps said. \u201cYou\u2019re safe. You\u2019re good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both organizations are encouraging producers to stay alert and follow updates from the USDA as surveillance efforts continue. <\/p>\n
Congressional agriculture leaders said the United States has successfully eradicated New World screwworm before and expressed confidence it can be contained again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LITTLE ROCK, AR (KATV) \u2014 Arkansas livestock organizations are urging producers to closely monitor their animals following confirmation…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":323197,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-323196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323196","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=323196"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323196\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/323197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=323196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=323196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=323196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}