Texas animal-health officials have quarantined parts of Pecos and Terrell counties after New World screwworm was detected in a cow in Pecos County on Oct. 10. Ranchers and anyone else holding livestock inside the new zone may not move their animals out without permission from the state.
The order was signed Oct. 11 by Lewis R. Dinges, the executive director of the Texas Animal Health Commission, the state agency that controls livestock disease. It creates “Infested Zone 22” and takes effect immediately. It stays in force until the commission releases the zone.
Under the order, any warm-blooded animal inside the zone must be inspected and treated as the commission requires, and must receive a movement permit or certificate from a commission representative, before it leaves. Hides, carcasses and parts of any animal that can host the fly must also be inspected, and treated if the commission says so, before they leave the zone. The order says unauthorized movement is “subject to administrative penalties and/or criminal prosecution.”
The commission’s stated reasoning is that moving infested animals can spread flies and larvae, start new infestations and increase the overall fly population. The fly lays eggs in wounds or soft tissue, the larvae burrow in, and untreated infestations can cause serious injury and death, according to the order. Gov. Greg Abbott declared a statewide disaster over the threat on Jan. 29, 2026.
The order leaves several questions unanswered. Its text does not list the zone’s boundaries, does not say how many animals were affected and does not name a ranch or location. The commission’s news page showed no release on the order as of Oct. 13. A public dashboard of confirmed U.S. cases, which counts 53 since the first U.S. case on June 3, 2026, had not added a Pecos County entry; its most recent entry was dated Oct. 2.
The detection follows weeks in which the commission was shrinking, not adding, restricted areas. Its emergency-orders page lists an Oct. 6 order that modified and released part of an earlier zone covering Pecos County, and an Oct. 10 order releasing parts of zones in Schleicher and Sutton counties. Zone 22 is a reversal for the Pecos County area.
The new order adds to earlier steps the commission has taken, including entry requirements for livestock coming from affected states announced earlier this month. The state’s first wild fly caught in a federal trap, in Brewster County, came in late September.
Whether Zone 22 grows, shrinks or gives way to a wider restriction now depends on what the commission finds in Pecos and Terrell counties. The order sets no end date.