After confirming an infestation in a 3-week-old beef calf, USDA and Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) warn animal movement — not fly travel — spreads the pest, and outline inspection, treatment and quarantine steps for cattle producers. The first Texas case of New World screwworm (NWS) since 1966 has been confirmed on a cow–calf operation in Zavala County near La Pryor, triggering an aggressive joint response from USDA and TAHC. Officials stress two key messages: This is

New World screwworm (NWS) has officially landed on U.S. soil, ending more than six decades without the destructive livestock pest and putting dairy producers on alert. USDA recently confirmed a case in South Texas near La Pryor. The infestation was identified in a 3-week-old calf and confirmed by USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa. Federal animal health officials have activated response efforts as they work to contain the pest and prevent further s

Twenty-nine hours after U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins addressed the nation on the status of the New World Screwworm (NWS) in the U.S. and its implications, a case of the parasitic pest was confirmed in south Texas. On Tuesday afternoon, June 2, 2026, Rollins and her staff pointedly and deliberately worked to quell rumors that NWS had been detected on the doorstep of the United States. While Rollins debunked claims that NWS had been detected within one mile of t