The US Department of Agriculture confirmed the first New World screwworm detection in US wildlife after an elk in Pecos county, Texas, tested positive on a game ranch and was reported after being killed by a hunter. Texas officials are now modifying a previously established infested zone while federal and state teams expand wildlife surveillance in the area.
That finding matters because the parasite had been eradicated from the US decades ago, and officials had tried to keep it out by restricting livestock imports from Mexico. The US halted those imports last year, then resumed trade in August at an Arizona port under a phased reopening plan, even as the pest kept moving north from Central America through Mexico.
Alan Cain urged hunters and landowners to stay alert this season, saying they should be vigilant for signs of New World screwworm while out in the field. His warning lands as the first wildlife case in Texas adds a new layer of concern for people who spend time around deer, elk and ranchland, where sick animals may be noticed late or not at all.
The elk case also leaves an uncomfortable gap in the response: import controls have been used to slow the pest, yet it still turned up in Texas wildlife. The screwworm was detected in June on a calf in Zavala county, Texas, near the border, and there have since been dozens of cases detected in the US this year, including on a horse and on a dog. Officials now face the next question that matters on the ground, whether the wildlife detection is a one-off or the start of a wider spread that surveillance will have to catch early.
