{"id":339107,"date":"2026-06-16T23:56:25","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T23:56:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/339107\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T23:56:25","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T23:56:25","slug":"pet-owners-urged-to-keep-eye-on-animals-as-new-world-screwworm-spreads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/339107\/","title":{"rendered":"Pet owners urged to keep eye on animals as New World Screwworm spreads"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"text | article-text\">LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) &#8211; Pet owners are urged to keep a close eye on their animals as the New World Screwworm crosses state lines.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Texas Governor Greg Abbott declared a disaster and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kcbd.com\/2026\/06\/08\/gov-abbott-escalates-texas-emergency-response-after-2-new-cases-new-world-screwworm-confirmed\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.kcbd.com\/2026\/06\/08\/gov-abbott-escalates-texas-emergency-response-after-2-new-cases-new-world-screwworm-confirmed\/\">escalated the state\u2019s response<\/a> to the parasite after it was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kcbd.com\/2026\/06\/05\/federal-state-agencies-working-prevent-spread-new-world-screwworm\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.kcbd.com\/2026\/06\/05\/federal-state-agencies-working-prevent-spread-new-world-screwworm\/\">confirmed in South Texas<\/a> last week.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The New World Screwworm is a parasitic fly which lays eggs on or near open wounds and body openings, such as the eyes, ears, nose, mouth or genitals. When the eggs hatch, the larvae burrow into and feed on the living tissue of the mammal, which can cause severe harm and even death.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">It targets all warm-blooded animals &#8211; putting livestock, pets, and humans at risk.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">A Lea County, New Mexico dog was diagnosed with NWS <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aphis.usda.gov\/news\/agency-announcements\/usda-confirms-first-case-new-world-screwworm-dog-lea-county-new-mexico\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.aphis.usda.gov\/news\/agency-announcements\/usda-confirms-first-case-new-world-screwworm-dog-lea-county-new-mexico\">Monday<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Dr. Shayne Butler with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.liveoaklubbock.com\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.liveoaklubbock.com\/\">Live Oak Animal Hospital<\/a> says any animals that spend an extended period of time outside should be monitored for infection.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The USDA reports the following are signs of screwworm infection:<\/p>\n<p>Irritated behaviorHead shakingThe smell of decayPresence of fly larvae (maggots) in wounds<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cIf a wound is not healing, especially despite medical treatment, that\u2019s a main clinical sign [of screwworm],\u201d Dr. Butler said. \u201c[the wounds] usually have a foul smell to them, and dogs can be really irritated &#8211; shaking their head, scratching a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Because the fly is attracted to open wounds, Dr. Butler says pet owners should bring their animals in for treatment right away &#8211; even if it\u2019s an injury typically treated at home.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">While indoor pets are at less risk of screwworm infection, Dr. Butler says every animal should be on preventative meds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cIt\u2019s important to stay up to date on a lot of our flea and tick preventions because, currently, that is our best prevention for screwworm infections,\u201d Dr. Butler said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Even if a pet owner takes proper precautions, Dr. Butler urges people to get their pets checked at the first sign of any issue.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cOur biggest concern with the screwworm is that it feeds on live tissue,\u201d Dr. Butler said. \u201cSo, it can get out of control really quickly and cause secondary infections, that\u2019s what can be fatal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The USDA is offering guidance on New World Screwworm infections: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aphis.usda.gov\/livestock-poultry-disease\/cattle\/ticks\/screwworm\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.aphis.usda.gov\/livestock-poultry-disease\/cattle\/ticks\/screwworm\" target=\"_blank\">www.aphis.usda.gov\/livestock-poultry-disease\/cattle\/ticks\/screwworm<\/a> <\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">If you suspect your pet is infected, you\u2019re urged to take it to the vet immediately. <\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 KCBD. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) &#8211; Pet owners are urged to keep a close eye on their animals as the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":339108,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[244,246,120855,319,120854,66,251,168,170,169,32408,5877,223,245,1474,2630,375],"class_list":["post-339107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lubbock","tag-animals","tag-dogs","tag-dr-shayne-butler","tag-kcbd","tag-live-oak-animal-hospital","tag-local","tag-local-news","tag-lubbock","tag-lubbock-headlines","tag-lubbock-news","tag-madeleine-hall","tag-new-world-screwworm","tag-news","tag-pets","tag-south-texas","tag-state-news","tag-west-texas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339107","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=339107"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339107\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/339108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=339107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=339107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=339107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}