US ramps up response after New World screwworm case

U.S. agriculture officials have stepped up efforts to contain and eradicate the New World screwworm (NWS) after confirming the first domestic case in decades, News.Az reports, citing Xinhua.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said on Wednesday that NWS larvae were discovered in the umbilical area of a three-week-old calf in Zavala County, Texas. No additional cases have been detected so far.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said on Thursday that federal and state authorities are fully implementing an emergency response plan aimed at preventing any further spread within the country.

The measures include establishing a 20-kilometre control zone around the detection site, quarantines, restrictions on livestock movement, and intensified surveillance activities.

Authorities are also expanding the targeted release of sterile NWS flies, increasing trapping for NWS flies along the border, and strengthening wildlife monitoring efforts. Rollins said approximately 8 million sterile flies are being released weekly through both aerial and ground-based operations.

NWS is a serious parasitic pest that affects livestock, pets, wildlife, and in rare cases, humans. Its larvae burrow into the flesh of living animals through wounds and feed on living tissue, causing severe damage to livestock.

Although the pest was eradicated from the United States decades ago, it remains present in parts of South America, where infections in animals and humans continue to occur. In recent years, however, it has spread northward through Central America and Mexico, according to the USDA.

News.Az 

By Nijat Babayev