State Representative Don McLaughlin (R-Uvalde) issued an urgent call to action following reports that the New World Screwworm (NWS) has been detected one mile from the Texas border.
In a letter sent to Governor Greg Abbott, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, and Speaker Dustin Burrows, McLaughlin demanded that state leaders immediately organize a Texas-led emergency response modeled after the command structure and urgency of Operation Lone Star.
The flesh-eating pest, which was eradicated from the United States decades ago through coordinated international efforts, poses a severe risk to the state’s agricultural infrastructure. The New World Screwworm targets living animals by laying eggs inside open wounds.
McLaughlin warned that a potential outbreak could cause devastating consequences for Texas cattle producers, hunting and wildlife ranches, deer populations, agricultural producers, rural economies, and border communities.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the screwworm has been steadily advancing northward through Central America and Mexico. The parasite’s movement has been linked to disruptions in regional containment infrastructure near the Darién Gap, a remote jungle corridor between Colombia and Panama that has faced heavy human migration traffic.
Though eradicated from Mexico in 1991, the pest’s resurgence prompted the USDA to suspend live animal imports from Mexico and initiate a massive “One Health” federal containment strategy. This federal response includes a $100 million initiative to fund eradication innovations, the deployment of mounted border patrol officers colloquially known as “Tick Riders” to monitor wildlife migration, and a partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to construct a domestic sterile fly production facility at Moore Air Base in Edinburg, Texas.
However, McLaughlin said that federal regulators have moved at a “snail’s pace” despite warnings from Texas ranchers. Because the threat has reached the state’s doorstep, McLaughlin said that Texas cannot afford to wait on the federal government to act.
McLaughlin urged Texas leadership to deploy personnel and resources from the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Texas Animal Health Commission, and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. His requests include establishing a statewide New World Screwworm Task Force, increasing surveillance and detection efforts in border counties, creating enhanced animal inspection operations along the border, and accelerating the deployment of sterile insect eradication technology.