Fifth case of New World screwworm confirmed | FOX 7 Austin

Added: 2026-06-11

[00:00:00]Still talking about the screw worm.

[00:00:02]Officials with the USDA say a goat in Gillespie County was infected with the parasite. Fox 7 Austin's Meredith Alvis with that.

[00:00:11]>> A new concern. The new world screworm now detected in a pet in Texas.

[00:00:18]>> As new cases of new world screworm continue to surface in Texas, officials say the response is already growing.

[00:00:26]Since Friday, federal officials confirmed three additional cases. A calf in Lasal County, roughly 50 miles from the Mexican border, a goat in Gillespie County in the Texas Hill Country, and a dog in Andrews County near the New Mexico border. The USDA says the infested dog had recently been in Mexico, where the parasite is known to be. This brings the total to five cases in the US. Officials stress there is no threat to the nation's food supply, but the parasite can devastate livestock and wildlife populations. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins says officials have spent the past year preparing for this.

[00:01:06]>> And against all odds, every model showed that the new world screw would be here in Texas by early last summer. So, we bought ourselves an additional uh year to prepare for this moment. Now, Texas and federal agencies are throwing more resources at this problem. One of the strategies, releasing sterile flies.

[00:01:26]It's been used before. Sterile male flies made with wild females, preventing production, and eventually collapsing the population. But how long will that take? We are in a position based on everything we've been building out over the last year, that rather than years and years, which is what happened in the 1950s and 1960s, uh our goal is to have enough sterile flies deployed and out into Texas and wherever else this happens to be, uh before the next summer season pops up. That is the goal.

[00:01:59]>> The USDA says by then they hope to be producing about 500 million sterile flies per week. This is critical. When we looked at the 60s,7s, and 80s and how we were successful, it was roughly about 500 million flies.

[00:02:13]>> Governor Greg Abbott signing an updated disaster declaration Friday, saying it'll help eliminate red tape and speed up response efforts across the state, including construction of facilities and production of sterile flies, as well as establishing quarantine zones around confirmed cases while increasing trapping, surveillance, and testing operations. Officials say early detection will be key as they work to contain the outbreak.

[00:02:41]>> This is something that is detectable.

[00:02:44]This is something that is preventable and this is something that is treatable.

[00:02:48]>> If you suspect your livestock or pet has been infected, call your veterinarian.

[00:02:55]Reporting in Kurville, Meredith Aldis, Fox 7 Austin News.