{"id":435899,"date":"2026-09-14T20:38:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T20:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/435899\/"},"modified":"2026-09-14T20:38:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T20:38:11","slug":"el-paso-pet-owners-urged-to-stay-vigilant-as-new-world-screwworm-spreads-in-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/435899\/","title":{"rendered":"El Paso pet owners urged to stay vigilant as New World Screwworm spreads in Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">EL PASO. Texas (<a data-ylk=\"slk:KTSM;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ktsm.com\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">KTSM<\/a>) \u2013 New World Screwworm has been detected in Texas, but El Paso currently remains free of an infestation, according to El Paso Animal Services.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The parasitic fly can pose a serious threat to warm-blooded animals due to its larvae&#8217;s ability to feed on living tissue through wounds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">While there is no need for El Paso pet owners to panic, local animal officials encourage residents to remain vigilant, particularly if their pets spend time outdoors.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Pet owners should regularly check their animals for wounds that appear to be getting worse, unusual odors, or the presence of maggots.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Wounds should be kept clean and properly treated. If a pet develops a concerning wound or other symptoms, owners should contact their veterinarian promptly, officials advised.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">If New World screwworm is suspected, early detection and reporting are important. Pet owners are also encouraged to rely on trusted sources, such as Texas A&amp;M AgriLife, for accurate and updated information.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">El Paso residents can get their questions answered directly by experts during a free community information session, Monday from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the Texas A&amp;M AgriLife Research Center, located at 1380 A&amp;M Circle. No registration is required.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">For now, the message from local animal officials is simple: El Paso remains infestation-free, but pet owners should know what to look for and act quickly if they notice something unusual.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<a data-ylk=\"slk:For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ktsm.com\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EL PASO. Texas (KTSM) \u2013 New World Screwworm has been detected in Texas, but El Paso currently remains&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":435900,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[138,17160,140,139,498,5877,79355,27],"class_list":["post-435899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-el-paso","tag-el-paso","tag-el-paso-animal-services","tag-el-paso-headlines","tag-el-paso-news","tag-ktsm","tag-new-world-screwworm","tag-pet-owners","tag-texas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435899","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=435899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435899\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/435900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=435899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=435899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}