{"id":372667,"date":"2026-07-14T15:59:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T15:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/372667\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T15:59:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T15:59:10","slug":"a-flesh-eating-parasite-is-spreading-in-texas-heres-what-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/372667\/","title":{"rendered":"A flesh-eating parasite is spreading in Texas, here’s what to know"},"content":{"rendered":"

ABILENE, Texas \u2014 New World Screwworm is a parasitic fly that lays its eggs in the open wounds of living, warm-blooded animals.<\/p>\n

While it primarily affects cattle and other livestock, it can also infect dogs, cats and, in rare cases, humans.<\/p>\n

RELATED | ‘There’s nothing to worry about,’ Livestock expert addresses Screwworm concerns<\/a><\/p>\n

According to the Texas Animal Health Commission<\/a>, there are currently more than 30 confirmed cases in Texas, spanning 13 counties and 26 affected premises.<\/p>\n

The Abilene-Taylor County Public Health District has shared multiple posts on social media to help raise awareness and keep the community informed about the risk.<\/p>\n

According to the CDC<\/a>, some symptoms of New World Screwworm include:<\/p>\n

Feeling or seeing maggots (larvae) move in a skin wound or sore, or in the ears, nose, eyes, or mouth.Painful skin wounds or sores that worsen within a few days.A foul-smelling odor from the site of the infestation.Bleeding from open sores.Bacterial infections may also occur in wounds where NWS maggots are present, leading to symptoms like fever or chills.<\/p>\n

RELATED | Flesh-eating parasite raises concerns for Texas livestock and pets<\/a><\/p>\n

\"New<\/p>\n

New World Screwworm is a parasitic fly that lays its eggs in the open wounds of living, warm-blooded animals. (USDA)<\/p>\n

Some ways to help prevent New World Screwworm, according to the CDC, are:<\/p>\n

Keep open wounds clean and covered, no matter how small or location on the body.Sleep indoors with closed windows or screened open windows. If you are outside, sleep under a bed net or inside a screened tent.Protect your skin and prevent insect bites byUsing an EPA-registered insect repellent.Treating clothing and gear with products containing 0.5% permethrin.Wearing loose-fitting, long-sleeved shirts and pants, hats, and socks to limit access to your body by NWS flies.<\/p>\n

If you see or feel these maggots, contact your healthcare provider immediately. <\/p>\n

RELATED | Local disaster declared as New World Screwworm threat emerges in Tom Green County<\/a><\/p>\n

\"According<\/p>\n

According to the Texas Animal Health Commission, there are currently more than 30 confirmed cases in Texas, spanning 13 counties and 26 affected premises. (KTXS\/Scott Martin)<\/p>\n

Do not try and remove the maggots or eggs on your own.<\/p>\n

If the maggot or eggs fall our of the wound, place them in a leak-proof container with rubbing alcohol to kill them. Then proceed to bring them to your healthcare provider.<\/p>\n

KTXS will be speaking with some ranchers and buyers at the Abilene Livestock Auction update this article with more information as we get it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ABILENE, Texas \u2014 New World Screwworm is a parasitic fly that lays its eggs in the open wounds…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":372668,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-372667","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\/372667","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=372667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372667\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/372668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=372667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=372667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=372667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}