BOZEMAN, Mont. \u2014 A destructive parasitic fly not seen in the United States in decades has prompted new guidance for Montana\u2019s livestock industry.<\/p>\n
The Montana Department of Livestock and Montana State University Extension issued recommendations after New World screwworm was detected in Texas. <\/p>\n
For the first time since 1966, the New World screwworm, also known as NWS, or Cochliomyia hominivorax, has been detected in the United States.<\/p>\n
A confirmed case was found in Zavala County, Texas, on June 3. Since then, an additional five cases have been confirmed in south Texas.<\/p>\n
Scientists with the Montana Department of Livestock and MSU Extension said New World screwworm is a concern for the U.S. livestock industry because the flies lay eggs in the wound of a living animal. <\/p>\n
The larvae then feed on living tissue, causing severe tissue damage. After feeding, the larvae drop to the ground and hatch into adult flies.<\/p>\n
Officials said the primary mitigation effort has been the release of sterile male flies into the population, noting that female flies only reproduce once in a lifetime.<\/p>\n
The following was sent out by by the Montana State University Extension:<\/p>\n
In response, on June 4 the Montana Department of Livestock released an animal health order for livestock traveling into Montana from affected locations. According to the order, animals from an infested state must have an import permit from the Department of Livestock and a certificate of veterinary inspection \u2013 or CVI \u2013 documenting that the animal has met the state\u2019s requirements to leave an infested zone. The CVI cannot be issued before the initial New World screwworm detection in the infected state. Because animal health authorities in Texas do not have authority over small animals, the order has different requirements for small animals and livestock species.<\/p>\n
The CVI must indicate that all animals listed on the document are free from wounds and evidence of New World screwworm larvae infestation, and all animals must have official identification. The CVI can only be issued within five days prior to movement to Montana. These requirements apply statewide for small animals. For livestock, these requirements are applied at the county level. Impacted counties are listed in the order. Animals under this order include all warm-blooded animals, including cattle, horses, mules, other equids, sheep, llamas, alpacas, bison, swine, ostriches, rheas, emus, goats, alternative livestock species, dogs, cats, rabbits, rodents, game animals, fur-bearing and wild animals, and poultry and other birds. More detailed information can be found in the order from the Montana Department of Livestock.<\/p>\n
Animals entering the state from any location in and around the infested zone should be monitored for signs and symptoms of New World screwworm infestation. Individuals should contact the Montana Department of Livestock at 406-444-2976 or mtstatevet@mt.gov for more information regarding animal travel within and around the infected zones.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BOZEMAN, Mont. \u2014 A destructive parasitic fly not seen in the United States in decades has prompted new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":332498,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-332497","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\/332497","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=332497"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332497\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/332498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}