Flesh-eating screwworm detected 25 miles from US border in Mexico, USDA says
Federal officials say the parasite is now the closest to U.S. soil since last September and could threaten livestock supplies.
- On Tuesday, The USDA reported a New World screwworm infestation in Mexico just 25 miles from the Texas border, marking the closest encounter to United States soil in recent times.
- Thursday's discovery of the parasite in a 5-year-old goat in Coahuila adds to the 32 cases tracked by U.S. officials throughout the Mexican state, where 19 cases remain active.
- Economic impacts could reach $1.8 billion in the Lone Star State, and The CDC notes that infestation "can cause painful and foul-smelling wounds" in both animals and people.
- Officials maintain that the current risk to livestock and people in the United States remains very low, as the USDA emphasizes the pest "is not currently present" stateside.
- Last year, HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon confirmed the first human case in the United States involving a traveler returning to Maryland, while Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller previously announced a 60-mile detection.
17 Articles
17 Articles
US mounts response as screwworm threat moves closer to border
The sun is high, the temperature is higher and a Texas cattle rancher along the U.S.-Mexico border is checking his cows. He owns hundreds, so checking them all can take time, and with a new threat, it takes longer. That new threat is screwworm flies, and the Department of Agriculture is warning ranchers to keep their eyes open because an invasion may be coming. The new world screwworm might sound like a cartoon, but what it does is not funny. Th…
Flesh-Eating Parasite Only 30 Minutes Away From US
A flesh-eating parasite that US officials have tried to keep at bay just crept uncomfortably close to the border. KVUE reports that, according to the Texas Department of Agriculture, nearly a dozen news cases of New World screwworm fly were reported over the weekend in Mexico, including in a goatlike...
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