A quarantine is now in place due to what authorities describe as an “established New World Screwworm (NWS) Infested Zone” in the Zavala and Uvalde County areas. The announcement comes from the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC).
The agency says the lone NWS case detected in Zavala County involves a three-week old calf with an umbilical lesion. Officials have also alerted livestock owners that all warm-blooded animals in this zone may not be move out of the zone without TAHC authorization.
As experts explain, NWS is a devastating livestock pest, in which its larvae (maggots) burrow into the living tissue of an open wound, and continue to feed and grow, causing painful wounds and infections. NWS infestations can be fatal if untreated.
And the stakes of an NWS outbreak are high, with the state’s $15 billion cattle industry potentially at risk. The TAHC announcement said it is working closely with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), along with other state officials in a joint incident response. It’s a response years in the making, with state, federal and multi-agency coordination all said to be key components to contain and eradicate the parasite.
NWS was eradicated in the U.S. back in 1966 using the sterile insect technique, in which irradiated male flies are made infertile and released in mass numbers where they mate with wild female flies, which then lay unfertilized eggs. Since female NWS flies normally mate only once, the NWS population dwindles down to zero. The same method is used today.
USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins says that effort is expanding rapidly. "We'll start at about 30 million additional flies that we'll be able to release by the summer and then an additional 100 million flies per week by the end of this year. Again, these are all really important moves." Officials also say the country’s food supply remains safe from potential infestations.
The USDA describes the release of sterile flies as “safe, environmentally friendly, and offers a sustainable, non-toxic alternative to chemical pesticides. It poses no risk to wildlife, livestock, or people in infested areas.
