Colorado Activates Screwworm Response After 6 Cases Emerge in Texas and New Mexico
Updated
Updated · The Colorado Sun · Jun 11
Colorado Activates Screwworm Response After 6 Cases Emerge in Texas and New Mexico
3 articles · Updated · The Colorado Sun · Jun 11
Summary
Colorado agriculture officials have activated a prepared response to New World screwworm and expanded a public webinar Thursday to 90 minutes as concern rises over the pest’s spread northward.
Six confirmed cases had been reported in Texas and New Mexico by Tuesday, and officials warned the flesh-eating maggots can spread through wounds, eyes and other openings, killing untreated animals and infesting herds.
State officials urged ranchers, farmers and pet owners to watch for larger-than-housefly adults with orange-tinted eyes or suspicious larvae, then report cases quickly to veterinarians or Colorado’s animal health office.
The pest was eradicated from the U.S. in the 1960s, but outbreaks resumed in Mexico in 2023 and reached the Southwest this spring; control efforts rely in part on releasing sterile males.