Texas Ranchers Challenge USDA Screwworm Response After 2 First Cases Since the 1970s
Updated
Updated · Reuters · Jun 8
Texas Ranchers Challenge USDA Screwworm Response After 2 First Cases Since the 1970s
3 articles · Updated · Reuters · Jun 8
Summary
About 100 South Texas ranchers pressed officials at a local briefing after USDA confirmed two New World screwworm infestations in Texas, the state's first detections in decades.
USDA says it has set a quarantine zone, increased trapping and surveillance, deployed response teams and kept releasing sterile flies, but some ranchers call the effort too slow and insufficiently transparent.
A widespread outbreak could cause $1.8 billion in damage to Texas livestock and hunting, and ranchers say daily inspections and preventive treatments are hard to carry out across vast, labor-short operations.
Some producers are weighing a privately funded sterile-fly plant that could cost about $4 million, while others near the 12-mile infested zone say frontline state and federal teams have been effective.
The dispute underscores broader fears that Texas may struggle to stop a pest advancing north through Mexico before it becomes established again in the United States.
With sterile fly production lagging behind outbreak needs, can Texas ramp up fast enough to prevent a devastating screwworm crisis?
How will ranchers and officials rebuild trust and collaboration to fight the screwworm threat amid transparency concerns and resource shortfalls?
Could alternative technologies or private sector initiatives outpace USDA efforts in containing the screwworm outbreak?
Texas Faces Screwworm Resurgence: Economic, Trade, and Public Health Risks Amid 2025 Outbreak
Overview
Texas is facing a renewed threat from the New World screwworm, a pest that was once eradicated in the 1960s after a major public health and agricultural effort. Despite this past success, the pest has returned, putting the state’s vital livestock industry at risk. The last major resurgence in the 1970s led to widespread cattle infestations and costly containment measures. Today, authorities are acting quickly to limit the outbreak’s impact, drawing on lessons from history to protect animal health and the economy. This situation highlights the ongoing challenge of keeping screwworm out of the United States.