USDA has confirmed two more cases of New World screwworm in Texas, bringing to four the number of detections since the first two cases were announced last week.
The latest cases are in a calf in La Salle County, Texas, and a dog in Andrews County, Texas.
“Epidemiological investigations are ongoing for both cases,” a department press release says. “A veterinarian in Andrews County submitted the samples from the infested dog. Details on this case will be shared as they are available, but early reports indicate the dog was recently in Mexico.”
Andrews County is about 280 miles northwest from La Pryor in Zavala County, the site of the first detection. The second case was about 5.6 miles from the first, also in Zavala County. La Salle County is southeast of Zavala.
On Friday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration for Zavala and Uvalde counties. Uvalde borders Zavala to the north.
Larvae of the NWS “burrow into the living tissue of animals, causing severe wounds, animal suffering, and significant economic losses,” the release notes.
Officials say they’re working both to contain the spread of the fly, which has been creeping northward for some time, and “to eradicate the pest entirely,” said Dudley Hoskins, USDA undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs.
“We need the partnership of animal owners across the region – please stay vigilant, check your animals closely, and report anything that looks suspicious. Together, we can protect our livestock, our communities, and the health of animals nationwide,” Hoskins said.
USDA and the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) have 75 people “actively responding on the ground and hundreds of additional people around the country providing laboratory diagnostics, logistics, treatment distribution, air operations, outreach, operational planning, and resource support for the response,” the USDA release says. “APHIS and TAHC will continue to surge additional trained personnel as needed to ensure an effective response.”
“USDA continues to release sterile flies over and just outside of the infested areas,” the release said. “To ensure sterile fly release operations can be deployed to affected areas in Texas and in northern Mexico near the border as quickly and efficiently as possible, USDA has activated the sterile fly dispersal facility at Moore Air Base in Edinburg, Texas. Sterile pupae arrived at the facility on Friday, and aerial dispersal flights originating from the base will begin tomorrow.”
Each new case triggers a series of actions by USDA and TAHC.
- Establishing and maintaining a 20km infested zone with quarantines, movement controls, and heightened surveillance around confirmed detections
- Increasing trapping along the border and outside the dispersal zone
- Conducting surveillance and management strategies in wildlife
- Implementing targeted outreach to local producers, veterinarians, and communities
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