US confirms three new cases of flesh-eating screwworm in livestock

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Monday confirmed three additional cases of New World screwworm – two more in Texas and the other in New Mexico, according to the agency’s animal health arm.The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said the two Texas cases affected a calf in La Salle county and a goat in Gillespie county.The service clarified that a fifth case reported earlier on Monday in a dog in Andrews county would be reclassified as the first case detected in New Mexico.The veterinarian who reported the case is located in Texas, the agency said – but the dog resides at a household in Lea county, New Mexico, which borders Texas.“This situation is evolving, and we expect new information to emerge as our investigation continues,” said Dudley Hoskins, USDA under-secretary for marketing and regulatory programs, in the release.On Monday, Texas’s governor, Greg Abbott, announced that the state’s emergency operations center had escalated its response level – therefore deploying more resources – to combat the spread of New World screwworm.New World screwworm is a serious pest that can infest any warm-blooded animal, including livestock, pets, wildlife and, in rare cases, people. The larvae burrow into the living tissue of animals, causing severe wounds, animal suffering and significant economic losses.The second case of the flesh-eating screwworm parasite was confirmed in Texas by the USDA on Friday, emerging just miles from where he first US detection in decades was reported days earlier.Reuters reported in May 2025 that hundreds of veterinarians, support staff and lab workers at the animal health arm of the USDA had left after the Trump administration pushed for resignations, leaving fewer specialists to respond to animal disease outbreaks and adding to concerns about preparedness.A widespread resurgence of New World screwworm now significantly threaten the economy of ​dominant cattle-producing Texas through animal deaths as well ​as higher ⁠labor and treatment costs.As the disease moved north for more than a year, the US-Mexico border has been closed to live cattle imports, causing the $100bn US beef industry to contract to a 75-year low.Guardian staff contributed