AUSTIN, Texas – Governor Greg Abbott and state health officials say they are moving swiftly to address the first case of flesh-eating screwworm found in the U.S. in Texas.
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What they’re saying:
At a news conference this afternoon, Gov. Abbott stressed that there was no food safety issue and that it was a food production issue.
Abbott updated a statewide declaration to authorize the use of and reallocate resources to respond and make available any and all state personnel to accelerate the eradication of the screwworm.
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Part of the eradication plan involves the major sterile fly dispersal and production facility in Edinburg.
Most of the efforts will be in Zavala and Uvalde Counties.
What you can do:
Officials urge people to check animals daily and check small wounds and tick bites.
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Wounds should be treated promptly.
Related
USDA confirms first US case of flesh-eating screwworm in Texas, triggering quarantines
Federal agricultural officials on Wednesday confirmed the first U.S. case of the destructive New World screwworm in a Texas calf, triggering emergency quarantine measures and sparking a sharp political clash over the adequacy of the government’s response.
People are asked to work to reduce fly populations.
Report any concerns immediately to officials.
The backstory:
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said the flesh-eating parasite was detected in the umbilical area of a 3-week-old calf in Zavala County, Texas, located southwest of San Antonio.
The New World screwworm is considered one of the most devastating livestock and wildlife pests in history. Unlike common fly larvae, screwworm maggots burrow into and feed exclusively on the living flesh of warm-blooded animals, causing severe injury, massive economic loss, and death if left untreated. While rare, they can also infect humans.
The USDA and the Texas Animal Health Commission have formed a unified Incident Command Team and established a 12-mile infested zone around the Zavala County site, implementing strict quarantines and movement controls on live animals.
To eradicate the population, federal officials are expediting the release of billions of laboratory-raised sterile flies, deploying ground release chambers to supplement the four million sterile flies already being dispersed aerially in the region each week. When wild flies mate with the sterile flies, no offspring are produced, eventually collapsing the population.
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