Flesh-eating screwworm found in dog and calf hundreds of miles apart in Texas<\/a><\/p>\nAbbott has also directed state agencies to establish a joint Texas New World screwworm Response Team, bringing together livestock producers, veterinarians, wildlife experts and federal partners. He issued a statewide disaster declaration before any case was detected to mobilize resources and strengthen prevention and response efforts, and later issued a disaster declaration to deploy all available state resources and prioritize Uvalde and Zavala counties.<\/p>\n
Abbott also directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management to activate the Texas State Emergency Operations Center to Level II (Escalated Response) to support the state\u2019s New World screwworm response.<\/p>\n
The governor urged Texans, especially ranchers and livestock owners, to check animals daily, treat wounds promptly and take steps to reduce fly populations, emphasizing that early detection and treatment is critical to preventing spread. Texans are urged to report suspected New World screwworm cases in livestock to the Texas Animal Health Commission at 1-800-550-8242 and suspected wildlife cases to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department at (512) 389-4505.<\/p>\n
In a separate statement from Austin, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said three new detections include cases in Gillespie and Andrews counties, and he warned that the pest\u2019s spread requires immediate federal action. Miller also pointed to what he described as the first confirmed case in New Mexico.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen detections in four counties and two states. This should set off alarm bells across the country. Every day we delay gives this pest another opportunity to spread,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n
Miller renewed his call for USDA to immediately deploy the Screwworm Adult Suppression System, known as SWASS, which he described as a USDA-developed program using targeted bait to kill fertile adult screwworm flies before they can reproduce.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor over a year, I’ve been pushing USDA to bring SWASS back into the fight,\u201d Miller said. \u201cI’ve personally placed the research and bait formula in Secretary Rollins’ hands three separate times because we know this tool works. SWASS helped eradicate screwworm from the United States once before, and it can help stop this outbreak before it reaches even deeper into Texas.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miller said sterile fly releases remain critical but argued SWASS and sterile flies are most effective when used together.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is important to note that neither I nor the Texas Department of Agriculture have advocated for the use of Dichlorvos in SWASS. While that insecticide worked well to eradicate the New World Screwworm from Texas in the 1970s, it has since been determined to be a carcinogen. Nevertheless, there are alternative insecticides available for SWASS which have been determined can be used to safely combat the screwworm as part as SWASS strategy. The cost of prevention is measured in millions. The cost of an outbreak in Texas would be measured in billions. The science is settled. The tools are available. What’s missing is urgency from the USDA,\u201d Miller added.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don’t win this battle with one tool, you kill fertile flies with SWASS while overwhelming the remaining population with sterile flies. That’s how we built the biological barrier that protected American agriculture for decades. That’s the strategy we should be using today,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n
Miller said USDA, the Texas Animal Health Commission and other partners have launched surveillance, trapping, testing and epidemiological investigations in response to recent detections, but he warned the window to contain the pest is narrowing.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery new detection is a warning,\u201d Miller said. \u201cWe have a narrow window to stop this pest before it gains a stronger foothold in the United States. Washington needs to move faster, deploy every proven tool available, and put SWASS back where it belongs\u2014on the front lines of this fight.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to USDA, Miller said, a dog initially reported in Andrews County, Texas, was determined to reside in Lea County, New Mexico, making it the first confirmed New World screwworm case in that state. Federal officials are also investigating additional cases, including a confirmed infestation in a goat in Gillespie County, Texas.<\/p>\n
New World screwworm is considered one of the most destructive livestock pests in history. Its larvae feed on the living flesh of warm-blooded animals, which can cause severe injury and death if untreated, and an outbreak in Texas could threaten livestock, wildlife and pets while putting billions of dollars in agricultural production at risk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"KERRVILLE, Texas – Texas officials are escalating their response to the New World screwworm threat as new detections…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":324445,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-328130","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\/328130","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=328130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328130\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/324445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=328130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=328130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=328130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}