AUSTIN, Texas (NewsNation) — Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Friday to laid out the state’s “plans to fight back against threats posed by the New World screwworm.”
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, New World screwworms are an invasive species that burrow fly larvae into fresh wounds of living animals like livestock, pets and occasionally people. The damage they cause can be deadly.
Abbott warned the screwworm has the potential the “crush” the state’s cattle industry.
“This is an enormous challenge and you need to understand the magnitude,” said Abbott. “Just in Texas, this can result in billions of dollars of losses a year.”
The animal is named after their feeding behavior, with the larvae screwing into the flesh of their victims.
According to Peyton Schuman, senior director of government relations for the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, a screwworm outbreak could cost Texas around $1.8 billion in damages to livestock annually.
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, says the screwworm flies could devastate the state’s cattle industry if they cross onto U.S. soil.
“A case of the New World screwworm was reported less than 400 miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border,” Cornyn told colleagues Monday on the Senate floor. “It may soon come across the border and lead to an outbreak in our state.”
The species originates in Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and some countries in South America. The pests were eradicated in the U.S. in the 1960s, but they have occasionally reemerged in Central America and Mexico.
Signs of an animal infested with the New World screwworm include:
- Foul-smelling wounds with maggots
- Animals biting or licking their wounds
- Lesions in bellybuttons, ears and where branding has occurred
- Lethargy