Four recent cases of New World screwworm have been confirmed at the same property in Texas, marking the largest detection since the parasite was discovered in the United States earlier this month.
Three cattle and a goat were tested positive for screwworm in Terrell County, which borders Mexico, according to the agency. U.S. Department of Agriculture. All came from the same facility, the Texas Animal Health Commission said in an email Wednesday.
This brings the total number of cases in the United States to 19 since screwworm was first discovered in a calf in Zavala County, Texas, in early June. The outbreak is the first in the United States in a decade and the first in livestock in about fifty years, threatening the nation’s largest cattle-raising state at a time when the nation’s cattle herds are already shrinking.
Screwworms are flies whose larvae burrow into the wounds of warm-blooded animals and are usually spread by the movement of infected animals. The infection is treatable, but if undetected, it can lead to death. Screwworm does not pose a threat to the safety of the U.S. food supply.
The epidemiological investigation into the Terrell County case is not complete, but traceback is currently underway to determine how the infection occurred, the commission said. Quarantines are now in place in parts of more than a dozen Texas counties, according to the state. committee.
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