AUSTIN, Texas – State and federal leaders discussed plans to fight the New World screwworm during a late Friday morning press conference in Austin.
The screwworm, or Cochliomyia hominivorax, is a parasitic fly whose larvae burrow into the flesh of living animals, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The screwworm can cause severe and often fatal injuries.
The parasite can infect livestock, pets, wildlife, birds and, in rare cases, people.
Gov. Greg Abbott was joined by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins at the Texas Capitol.
Rollins announced the federal government’s plan to spend up to $850 million to prevent the New World screwworm’s arrival in the United States.
As a part of the plan, Rollins revealed that the U.S. Department of Agriculture will build a new domestic sterile fly production facility in Edinburg that could cost up to $750 million and create approximately 300 new jobs.
The facility, when it is up and running, would be able to produce 300 million sterile screwworm flies weekly that can “eradicate the parasite,” the agriculture secretary said.
When the proposed facility is expected to open is not yet known.
While the new facility is under construction, Rollins also announced an additional $100 million investment to identify and fund tech companies that can trap or kill the screwworm, if and when detected.
Rollins revealed other federal government investments related to combatting the New World screwworm on Friday:
- the hiring of additional USDA-employed mounted patrol officers, also known as tick riders, who Rollins said will “provide the first line of defense against” any potential outbreak
- continued working with Mexico to “boost surveillance training and oversight to ensure real-time tracking” of any potential spread south of Texas
According to Rollins, the New World screwworm was detected approximately 370 miles away from Texas last month.
“The threat is real, and the time to act is now,” Rollins said during the news conference.
State and federal lawmakers worry that if the fly reaches Texas, its flesh-eating maggots could cause large economic losses, something that happened decades ago.
“This can result in billions of dollars of losses a year,” Abbott said on Friday. “It could truly crush the cattle industry, as well as other livestock industry in Texas. And, in doing so, it’s going to lead to a dramatic spiked increase in what people are paying in groceries when they go to the grocery store and try to buy food.”
The agriculture secretary also noted that the spread of the New World screwworm could contribute to an additional rise in food prices.
“‘Do we expect beef prices to continue to rise?’ Perhaps,” Rollins told reporters. “But the safety and the security of our beef and our ranchers has to be at the top of the list.”
The U.S. closed its southern border to livestock imports earlier this summer after the screwworm advanced farther north in Mexico, according to the Associated Press.
The Texas Tribune previously reported that the parasite was eradicated from the U.S. in the 1960s. However, in 2022, the screwworm began moving north and has now spread into Mexico.
More related coverage of this story on KSAT: