Texas farmers react to New World screwworm case

TEXAS — After years of anticipation, officials found New World screwworm in Texas, putting the agriculture industry on high alert.

“This is day two of really knowing that we have them back in Texas,” said Seguin Cattle Company owner Bryan Luensmann.

Luensmann is a third-generation Texas rancher, and Seguin Cattle Company is on its 48th year in business. He said ranchers in the area were just rebounding after the pandemic and years of drought.

“People are starting to keep their heifers back where possibly we can increase the herd numbers,” Luensmann said. “But now that we’ve got the screwworms problem, that might be a whole 'nother problem of its own.”

The last time the livestock industry had to deal with screwworms in the early 70s, Luensmann was just a kid. He said treating the animals is labor intensive.

“Everybody’s going to get nervous because everything that you do with cattle, they are processed to go to feed lots," he said. "So, you are creating wounds on them that screwworms can get into.”

The New World screwworm was first detected in Mexico in the fall of 2024.

“We’ve kind of known it’s a when is it going to happen, not an if it’s going to happen,” said Bain Wilson, Ranchbot agricultural scientist.

Wilson said people's concerns about the flesh-eating parasite are valid.

“If we don’t catch it early, it can be so detrimental to animal health, relative to other parasites or pests that are out there,” said Wilson.

He suggests ranchers get proactive, inspecting their animals a few times a week.

“They can catch any wounds or lesions caused by these flies early,” Wilson said.

But screwworms aren’t just a livestock issue. They can infect any warm-blooded animal from ranch dogs to humans.

“It can happen to your pets,” Luensmann said. “I mean if it bleeds, it’s a host for a screwworm.”

Wilson said he wouldn’t be surprised if more New World screwworm flies are found in the coming days. There's a 12-mile quarantine area around La Pryor, Texas, where an infected calf was found this week.

“The beef supply is safe,” Wilson said. “Just because we found it yesterday doesn’t mean we should go avoid buying beef.”

Luensmann said it’s still early, so no extra precautions are needed just yet. But he has faith in the country's and state's departments of agriculture to slow the spread.

“Everybody’s just sitting on the sidelines watching right now to see what the gameplan is,” Luensmann said.