Texas ranchers are staring down a foe many thought they'd left in the last century—and doubting the government's efforts to help. The flesh-eating New World screwworm has now been confirmed in three cattle and a goat in Texas as well as a dog in New Mexico, the New York Times reports, leaving producers in cattle country split over whether Washington can keep it from spreading. The parasite's larvae eat through living tissue and can kill untreated animals, and experts warn a major outbreak could cost Texas an estimated $1.8 billion.
It took the US cattle industry some 30 years to recover from the last screwworm epidemic, but Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins says that won't be the case this time, with the agency working "around the clock" to contain the Texas cases, per Reuters. (The New Mexico case is considered isolated at this point, per Farm Progress.) Federal and state officials have set up a quarantine zone, increased trapping and surveillance, and are releasing sterilized flies meant to wipe out the pest. But many ranchers say the response has been too slow, the fly-release details too vague, and the daily inspection recommendations unrealistic for sprawling operations with thin labor.
After the Trump administration pushed for resignations at the USDA last year, hundreds of employees left, meaning there are now fewer specialists to respond to outbreaks, Reuters reports, and "current sterile fly production is far short of what is needed to suppress the outbreak." Two new plants are being built, but ranchers worry about waiting, with some talking about privately funding their own plant. Others urge an end to political finger-pointing and praise the teams on the ground. All agree on one point: if containment fails, Texas ranching—and the rural economies tied to it—could be in serious trouble.
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