The number of confirmed New World screwworm cases in the United States climbed to 29 as of June 30, with a dog in Pecos County becoming the first Texas case in a companion animal, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s confirmed-detections dashboard as reported by Yahoo News and the farm outlet AGDAILY.
Of the 29 cases, 28 are in Texas and one remains in Lea County, New Mexico, where a dog was identified earlier in the outbreak. USDA lists 22 of the Texas cases as active and six as inactive.
The Pecos County dog marks the first canine detection in Texas since the outbreak began June 3, when the parasite was confirmed in a three-week-old calf in Zavala County. Until now every Texas case had involved livestock — cattle and sheep — and the New Mexico dog was the only prior companion-animal detection.
FOX 7 Austin reported that federal officials had confirmed the first case of the parasite in a dog as the response escalated. The Texas Animal Health Commission and USDA continue to report no confirmed screwworm case in Texas wildlife and no human case in the state.
The wider count has moved quickly. Confirmed U.S. cases stood at 27 as of June 29, after a single-day jump from 20 to 25 on June 26, according to the USDA dashboard cited by CBS Austin affiliate KEYE. The latest livestock detections have twice bypassed active containment lines in Crockett County, where cattle tested positive June 27 following sheep cases June 20 and June 24.
In response, TAHC Executive Director Dr. Lewis R. “Bud” Dinges signed a modified executive order June 28 adding Terrell County to a quarantine spanning parts of Crockett, Schleicher, Sutton, Terrell and Val Verde counties. Days earlier, on June 26, TAHC established Infested Zone 10 across parts of Jim Hogg, Starr and Zapata counties after a bovine tested positive in Jim Hogg County near the Rio Grande Valley.
Movement restrictions now cover parts of 21 Texas counties, TAHC said: Bandera, Coke, Crockett, Edwards, Gillespie, Jim Hogg, Kerr, Kimble, La Salle, Medina, Pecos, Schleicher, Starr, Sutton, Terrell, Tom Green, Uvalde, Val Verde, Webb, Zapata and Zavala. Under the emergency orders, no warm-blooded animals — and no hides, carcasses or animal parts capable of hosting larvae — may leave an infested zone without prior TAHC inspection, treatment and clearance, with violations subject to administrative penalties and criminal prosecution.
New World screwworm is the larva of a parasitic fly that lays eggs in the open wounds of warm-blooded animals; the hatched maggots burrow into living tissue, causing a condition called myiasis that can be fatal if untreated, according to USDA. Federal food-safety regulators have said the outbreak is not a food-safety issue and that affected animals are kept out of the food supply.
The federal response is scaling up on both sides of the border. USDA announced June 27 that a converted 22,000-square-foot sterile-fly production facility in Metapa, Mexico — the product of a $21 million USDA investment — is now operational and will add up to 100 million sterile flies per week to suppression efforts when fully running. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has said the plant is expected to reach about 30 million sterile flies per week by mid-July. Gov. Greg Abbott’s statewide disaster proclamation, first issued January 29 and updated June 5, remains active through the State Emergency Operations Center.
Officials will get their next reading when Metapa hits that mid-July output target and the USDA dashboard updates; TAHC continues to urge livestock and pet owners to inspect animals daily and report suspected cases immediately at 512-719-0700.