The sleepy Texas town of La Pryor has become ground zero in the fight against screwworm after the first U.S. case of the bovine parasite in decades was detected there, prompting a livestock quarantine and putting farmers and pet owners on alert.
A calf on a ranch tested positive Wednesday for the parasite, which left a gaping hole around its umbilical cord.
Farmers in South Texas have been preparing for the caterpillar’s arrival for more than a year, as the flies move from Colombia into Central America, approaching the US border. The parasite can decimate livestock herds and local wildlife.
Brooke Rollins, Secretary of Agriculture, said only one case had been confirmed and that the agency was doing everything possible to stop the spread that threatened Texas’ multibillion-dollar livestock industry.
USDA WORKERS LEAD CONTAINMENT EFFORTS
On Friday, USDA workers fanned out throughout Zavala County, which borders the Mexican state of Coahuila, setting up fly traps, releasing sterile flies to prevent them from breeding, and talking to farmers.
La Pryor’s main roads were marked with flashing orange signs asking vehicles carrying livestock to stop at a checkpoint staffed by sheriffs and state officials to inspect the animals for signs of the screwworm.
Marcel Valdez, a retired professor and extension agent at Texas A&M University, remembered the last time the caterpillar appeared in South Texas, when he was a child in the 1960s.
As he sat on the tailgate of his truck, watching cats eat the food he put out, he remembered how infested calves licked their open wounds, the smell of rotting meat as hundreds of maggots ate the animals alive, and the strong smell of the black, tar-like medicine he used to treat them.
Now he worries more about younger ranchers who have no experience treating the pest, the abundance of wild animals that can become vectors for its spread, and the limited number of sterile flies being produced.
“The screwworm multiplies so quickly that it can get out of control very, very quickly,” he said.
Other South Texas ranchers criticized the USDA’s efforts and called on Texas Governor Greg Abbott to declare a state of disaster to trigger federal relief funds.
At the same time, some Texas counties were taking action.
Kinney County, adjacent to Zavala County, declared a disaster on Thursday.
“The USDA has had a lot of time to prepare for this and is failing,” county attorney Brent Smith wrote in X.
Rollins said Thursday that screwworm was predicted to enter the U.S. last year and that the Trump administration’s efforts prevented it, giving the USDA time to implement a rapid response.
Fears of new infestations continued to roil markets on Friday, extending the rally in U.S. cattle futures.
(Reporting by Heather Schlitz)
