(The Center Square) – Gov. Greg Abbott has issued a disaster declaration for the New World Screwworm as cases have been reported roughly 70 miles from the Texas-Mexico border.
A deadly parasitic fly, the NWS was 370 miles south of the Texas border last August, flying north through Mexico from Central America, The Center Square reported.
Since then, it covered a significant distance and has the potential to wipe out Texas cattle in a state that produces the most in the U.S. Once in Texas, the NWS would spread to other states. It also has the potential to kill a wide range of wildlife that could wipe out the Texas game industry, tourism, livelihoods and cause billions of dollars in losses.
The NWS larvae (maggots) burrow into (screw in) wounds of livestock, pets, wildlife and sometimes people. The more maggots, the more the animal is eaten alive. The parasite is endemic in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and in South American countries.
Abbott’s disaster declaration covers the entire state and directs a Texas New World Screwworm (NWS) Response Team to lead prevention and response efforts. It addresses oversight and processes related to diagnosing and reporting the disease and other measures.
It includes directives Abbott already issued last June to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and Texas Animal Health Commission to establish the response team. The declaration allows for additional emergency authorization under state disaster law.
“Although the New World screwworm fly is not yet present in Texas or the U.S., its northward spread from Mexico toward the U.S. southern border poses a serious threat to Texas’ livestock industry and wildlife,” Abbott said in a statement, referring to livestock.
A NWS case was confirmed in Maryland in a person who returned from El Salvador last August, The Center Square reported.
“State law authorizes me to act to prevent a threat of infestation that could cause severe damage to Texas property, and I will not wait for such harm to reach our livestock and wildlife. With this statewide disaster declaration, the Texas NWS Response Team can fully utilize all state government prevention and response resources to prevent the re-emergence of this destructive parasite. Texas is prepared to fully eradicate this pest if need be,” Abbott said.
Last August, the U.S. Department of Agriculture invested $750 million to build the first U.S.-based Sterile Screwworm Production Facility in Edinburg, Texas. Located at Moore Air Force Base, the facility was built with the Army Corps of Engineers to produce up to 300 million sterile flies a week. It is the only sterile fly facility in the U.S., The Center Square reported.
Last year, 94 House members, led by state Rep. Ryan Guillen, R-Rio Grande City, called on Abbott to add NWS preventative measures to a special legislative session agenda. He never did.
Fast forward five months later and several cases have been confirmed in Mexico, according to a USDA map tracking the fly.
It has so far been confirmed in Veracruz on Jan. 23 and 27, in Tamaulipas on Jan. 22 and 24, and in Puebla and San Luis Potosi on Jan. 23, the USDA says.
“Isolated detections outside of the known affected areas in Mexico are not unexpected, and the fact that they have been identified and addressed quickly show that our collaborative efforts with Mexico to implement the NWS Action Plan are working,” the USDA states.
The USDA has been working on destroying the fly in Panama and Mexico. In the U.S., it hired mounted horseback patrol officers, known as “Tick Riders,” and other staff to implement border surveillance. It’s also training dogs to detect screwworm infestations in livestock and other animals along the border and at ports of entry.
The USDA is also working with the Department of the Interior and the U.S Customs and Border Protection to search for any wildlife infected by the NWS. and are constantly monitoring ports of entry.
The USDA is also dispersing 100 million sterile insects a week in Mexico and closely evaluating “the location and circumstances of each new case to adjust sterile insect release efforts and locations as needed,” it says. “Changes to the sterile insect dispersal area, or polygon, in Southern Mexico occur as needed to maintain broad suppression and help prevent the pest from moving further north toward the United States.”
Texas Farm Bureau President Russell Boening said the new Edinburg facility was a “pivotal step forward” to protect Texas livestock and wildlife. “A domestic outbreak of NWS could result in catastrophic losses, with estimates of $1.8 billion annually in Texas cattle alone and more than $10.6 billion in national economic damages.”
So far, the NWS has not been reported or detected in the U.S. in any animal.
