The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed Wednesday that a Texas calf has been found infected with a parasitic fly that feeds on warm-blooded animals, posing a serious new threat to the country's livestock industry.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the case was detected in a three-week-old calf in La Pryor, Texas, about 50 miles from the Mexican border.
Rollins stated that no further cases of screwworm larvae have been reported in the United States. Officials noted that while screwworm larvae pose a threat to livestock production, they do not infect food products.
The US cattle herd has fallen to its lowest level in decades, leading to record high beef prices. If the blowfly outbreak further reduces the supply of cattle, prices could rise even higher.
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Detection, quarantine zone in Texas
Texas State Veterinarian Bud Dinges said a 12-mile quarantine zone has been established around where the virus was discovered.
Quarantine restrictions prohibit the movement of any warm-blooded animals, including pets, outside this zone without prior inspection. Targeted releases of sterile flies have also been introduced to contain the outbreak.
These measures are intended to prevent the parasite from reintroducing into livestock in the United States.
What is a blowfly?
The New World blowfly is a parasitic fly whose larvae feed on the living tissue of warm-blooded animals, causing severe and sometimes fatal wounds.
Female flies lay eggs in open wounds or bodily openings, from which larvae hatch and penetrate tissue. Unlike most larvae, which feed on dead tissue, blowfly larvae consume healthy tissue, making the infestation particularly dangerous.
This parasite primarily affects livestock, but can also infect wild animals, pets, and, in rare cases, humans.
Image of an adult New World blowfly.
This is a developing story. More details to come.
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