Texas Sends 2 Calf Samples for Screwworm Testing as Cattle Futures Slide
Updated
Updated · Reuters · Jun 3
Texas Sends 2 Calf Samples for Screwworm Testing as Cattle Futures Slide
3 articles · Updated · Reuters · Jun 3
Summary
Two calf samples from a La Pryor, Texas, ranch were sent to a federal lab in Iowa after suspected screwworm infestations were found Tuesday, but no U.S. case has been confirmed.
Photos and video reviewed by local Representative Don McLaughlin showed larvae in a bloody wound, yet Texas animal health officials and the USDA still say New World screwworm is not present in the United States.
Cattle futures came under pressure as traders reacted to the suspected case, fearing consumer unease over the flesh-eating parasite even though a confirmed outbreak could later tighten cattle supply and lift beef prices.
The scare follows a USDA-confirmed case 25 miles south of the Texas border in Mexico's Coahuila state, with Washington keeping cattle imports shut for more than a year and funding sterile-fly, trapping and surveillance efforts.