Texas Braces for an Imminent Screwworm Infestation, a Threat to the State’s Cattle Industry

By Berenice Garcia and Jess Huff

Multiple efforts are underway to stop a parasitic fly from swarming Texas and the rest of the U.S. and wreaking havoc on the nation’s multi-billion-dollar cattle industry.

As screwworms fly closer to the southern border, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has again suspended live animal imports from Mexico. Meanwhile, U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz of Texas and Sen. Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico are trying to fund a nuclear facility that would stop the fly from further spreading. U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales is leading a similar effort in the House.

The screwworm, a fly that embeds its larvae into the living flesh of animals and humans, has spread through Central America, including Mexico.

There is an increasing alarm that the fly could reach South Texas as soon as June, disrupting a $15 billion cattle industry.

“We're going to do our very best as an industry and as government officials working alongside us to make the outbreak stay wherever it’s found,” said Tracy Tomascik, Texas Farm Bureau associate director of Commodity and Regulatory Activities. “But the chances of the outbreak spreading out beyond South Texas are pretty high.”

The last time the U.S. saw an outbreak of this magnitude was in the 1950s. It took decades, billions of dollars and a significant international effort to beat the worms back. Farmers and ranchers worry the fly will disrupt the food supply in the U.S., another shock to the market following the avian flu that sent the price of eggs soaring.

And experts say the fly can attach themselves to humans and family pets as well.

The Senate bill would allocate federal funding to create a facility capable of making sterile flies that would kill the screwworm population. It was introduced last week and has a long way to go before it receives approval. Texas farmers worry the facility won’t be constructed and operational soon enough to prevent an outbreak.