Alarm as once-eradicated flesh-eating parasite found in calf in Texas

USDA confirms first case of New World screwworm in cattle in six decades, posing threat to livestock industry

A flesh-eating parasite rarely seen in the US in six decades has been found in a calf in Texas , agriculture officials said, in an alarming development for the country’s cattle industry.

The New World screwworm fly ( NWS ) was confirmed in the animal in the south of the state, about 50 miles from the Mexico border, Brooke Rollins, the agriculture secretary, said late on Wednesday.

For more than a year, the US agriculture department (USDA) and officials in Texas have been warning livestock owners about the parasite’s progression across Mexico.

The screwworm fly’s larvae feed on the blood of warm-blooded animals, and while the risk to humans is low, the parasite can spread quickly where large numbers of cattle and other livestock are kept together.

It was eradicated from the US in the 1970s after causing tens of millions of dollars in losses, and officials fear a resurgence now at a time when food prices across the country, especially for beef, are at record highs .

The flies pose no threat to food safety, but officials fear shortages if they take hold in cattle and poultry populations.

“For months, the screwworm has advanced rapidly through Mexico in spite of the USDA’s existing gameplan,” Sid Miller, the Texas agriculture commissioner, said in a statement .