{"id":329074,"date":"2026-06-09T12:32:07","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T12:32:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/329074\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T12:32:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T12:32:07","slug":"texas-and-usda-intensify-surveillance-and-sterile-fly-strategy-to-contain-new-world-screwworm-outbreak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/329074\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas and USDA intensify surveillance and sterile fly strategy to contain New World screwworm outbreak"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"page_title\"> News <\/p>\n<p class=\"post_title\"> Texas and USDA intensify surveillance and sterile fly strategy to contain New World screwworm outbreak <\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"651\" height=\"377\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Screenshot-2026-06-08-at-15.49.44.png\" class=\"img-responsive wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/>USDA Undersecretary Dr. Scott H. Hutchins provides an update on New World screwworm during a news conference on Monday.  \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As\u00a0additional\u00a0cases of New World screwworm are being confirmed, the state of Texas and the US Department of\u00a0Agriculture are stepping up efforts to stop its spread.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dr. Bud Dinges, Texas State\u00a0Veterinarian,\u00a0says animal surveillance\u00a0remains\u00a0critical to\u00a0containing\u00a0the pest.\u00a0\u201cThis is a highly treatable condition that, if caught early, can be treated,\u00a0and spread\u00a0prevented,\u201d he says. \u00a0\u00a0Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins says\u00a0increasing the\u00a0number of\u00a0flies\u00a0is critical in the fight against\u00a0New\u00a0World screwworm.\u00a0\u00a0<br \/>\u00a0<br \/>USDA Undersecretary\u00a0for Research, Education, and Economics\u00a0Dr. Scott Hutchins\u00a0says\u00a0the Agricultural Research Service has developed a novel fly strain called\u00a0NovoFly\u00a0that will double the number of sterile flies produced.\u00a0\u201cBecause it\u2019s going to allow us to produce only male sterile flies,\u201d he says. \u201cSo\u00a0if you have a plant that produces 100 million flies as we do today, fifty percent of those are sterile females.\u00a0They do us no good in this particular fight.\u00a0So\u00a0by going to one hundred percent male sterile males,\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0able to instantly double our production.\u201d\u00a0<br \/>\u00a0<br \/>Secretary Rollins told\u00a0reporters during a news conference on\u00a0Monday,\u00a0the USDA is aggressively\u00a0working to eradicate the pest.\u00a0\u201cOur goal is to have enough sterile flies deployed and out into Texas and wherever else this happens to be before the next summer season pops up,\u201d she says.\u00a0<br \/>\u00a0<br \/>In an interview with Brownfield last week, Rollins said she expects the sterile fly production facility in\u00a0Metapa, Mexico to start producing sterile flies this month, and by the end of 2026, it will produce 100 million flies each week.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u00a0The USDA has confirmed 5 cases of New World screwworm, four in Texas, and one in New Mexico.\u00a0\u00a0For each new\u00a0detection,\u00a0a\u00a0more than 12-mile infested zone has been\u00a0established\u00a0with quarantines, movement controls, and heightened surveillance.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">USDA is urging residents in the area to\u00a0check\u00a0animals for draining or enlarging wounds, maggots or egg masses, signs of discomfort, or lesions in body openings.\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rear\u00a0Admiral Michael Schmoyer,\u00a0association administrator for the USDA\u2019s Animal and Plant Health Inspection\u00a0Service\u00a0says any suspected detection of New World screwworm needs to be reported.\u00a0\u201cYou want this to get over quicker, have people report, ask people to report, beg people to report,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s what we need. Being able to disperse those flies, you know, the science is going to tell us where to go, and\u00a0it\u2019ll\u00a0also\u00a0determine\u00a0how long we do it\u00a0and also\u00a0whether we need to shift.\u201d\u00a0<br \/>\u00a0<br \/>New\u00a0World screwworm is not a food safety issue.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"News Texas and USDA intensify surveillance and sterile fly strategy to contain New World screwworm outbreak USDA Undersecretary&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":329075,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-329074","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\/329074","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=329074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329074\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/329075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}