Texas Declares Disaster, Releases Millions of Flies After 1st U.S. Screwworm Case Since 1960s
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jun 5
Texas Declares Disaster, Releases Millions of Flies After 1st U.S. Screwworm Case Since 1960s
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jun 5
Summary
Gov. Greg Abbott signed a statewide disaster declaration Friday and said Texas is releasing millions of sterile male screwworm flies after a case was found in a 3-week-old calf near La Pryor.
The sterile males are meant to mate with wild females and stop reproduction, a strategy Texas and federal officials are using to contain spread during what Abbott called the start of a difficult summer season.
No new cases were announced, but the detection rattled Texas's cattle and beef sector, with the state holding more than 4.1 million cattle and producing about 15% of U.S. beef.
The outbreak lands as the national cattle herd is already at its lowest level since 1952 and beef prices are at record highs.
The parasite had been eradicated from North and Central America by the mid-2000s, but resurfaced near Mexico's border with Guatemala in 2024; more than 20,000 cases in Mexico have already led the U.S. to block Mexican cattle imports for over a year.