The USDA confirmed Wednesday that the New World screwworm fly has reached south Texas for the first time in decades, detected in a 3-week-old calf near the U.S.-Mexico border. As officials say there’s no threat of mass infestation, Texas leaders and cattle ind
For the third time in this story, the border is back in the headlines—this time with a parasite that can hollow out living flesh.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed that the New World screwworm fly has reached south Texas for the first time in decades. The case was first identified in a 3-week-old calf in La Pryor. Texas. about 50 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said.
The USDA warned of what the fly’s larvae can do. The parasite has flesh-eating larvae that burrow into the healthy tissue of cattle, deer, horses and other warm-blooded animals. If left untreated, officials say the infection can spread rapidly and may turn fatal in seven to 10 days.
Rollins said the USDA is confident “there is no threat of mass infestation.” But in Texas—where ranchers have watched the parasite creep north for months—the calm reassurance has not translated into comfort. Texas agriculture officials and cattle industry leaders have been concerned about the screwworm’s movement across the southern border for the past year.
Ranchers in southern Mexico have been contending with screwworm outbreaks since last year. That pressure helped shape the Trump administration’s decision to temporarily suspend the import of livestock from Mexico.
The stakes in Texas are rooted in history. Prior to the parasites’ U.S. eradication in the 1970s, the screwworm caused tens of millions of dollars in losses to cattle ranchers yearly.
Now, questions are shifting from what the federal government might do next to what it may have failed to stop earlier—particularly with regard to funding decisions tied to DOGE.
Roughly two months before the U.S. import suspension. the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency gutted the United States Agency for International Development. which included a program dedicated to preventing the spread of the parasite across the U.S.-Mexico border. according to a report from Agri-Pulse published in March 2025. That report cited a list of cut programs sent to Congress. The screwworm prevention program was part of roughly 5,300 grants and programs cut from USAID. The program also monitored outbreaks of avian flu in Asia, the report said.
The uncertain link—whether those cuts contributed to the recent screwworm case in Texas—has become a central point of dispute. Cattle industry leaders say the warning signs were already visible months ago, when the parasite was advancing through Mexico.
“ For months. the screwworm has advanced rapidly through Mexico in spite of the USDA’s existing game plan. ” Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller told NBC News on Wednesday. Miller added that he directly spoke with President Donald Trump. urging him to take control of the federal government’s response and “throw every available federal resource at this threat before it becomes a full-blown agricultural disaster.”.
Federal officials are working under the assumption that this is an isolated event, at least for now. Still, Texas leaders are staring at the timeline laid out by the biology. The USDA’s confirmation lands with a countdown already built in: seven to 10 days is all it can take for untreated infection to become fatal.
The economic impact calculation underscores why ranchers are nervous even without panic. The USDA estimates that a screwworm outbreak similar to an isolated one in 1976 could result in roughly $1.8 billion in losses to the Texas economy.
What happens next will determine whether Wednesday’s confirmation becomes a contained scare—or something ranchers have spent a year trying to prevent. And in the background of that decision. the funding cuts tied to USAID. and the question of what prevention capacity might have been lost. are now part of the political fight over how quickly the federal government can move when a crisis is already crossing the border.
New World screwworm fly USDA Brooke Rollins La Pryor Texas U.S.-Mexico border Sid Miller DOGE Department of Government Efficiency Elon Musk USAID cuts cattle industry ranchers livestock imports suspension avian flu monitoring economic losses
Wait so the border has worms now??
I don’t get it, they say no mass infestation but it’s already in a calf? Like, cool cool, so what happens to the rest of the herd then.
This whole DOGE funding worries thing is just politics right? If they can’t fund USDA, then how do they even treat it. Also doesn’t Mexico already have it for months? Sounds like they knew and just waited.
Brooke Rollins says no threat of mass infestation but the larvae hollow out living flesh… that’s literally a threat lol. Also I read somewhere it’s from “heat” or climate change? Like maybe it would’ve never made it here without the border stuff. Either way, ranchers get stuck dealing with it and the feds pat themselves on the back.