‘Warp Speed’ Eradication: Rollins and Abbott Launch Massive Screwworm Counter-Offensive
- ZISK APP
- Jun 10
- 1 min read
Standing at the historic screwworm research hub in Kerrville, Texas, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins didn’t sugarcoat the latest news: multiple New World screwworm (NWS) detections in South Texas cattle, a goat in Gillespie County, Texas, and a dog in New Mexico.
“These developments obviously represent a serious threat to our livestock and wildlife, but they haven’t caught us off guard,” Rollins says. “We have been tracking this pest for a long time, and we have fought before, and we will do so again.”
Calling NWS “an ever-evolving and dynamic situation,” Rollins details a rapid build‑out of infrastructure aimed at keeping the pest in check. At a press conference in the new Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory along with Governor Greg Abbott, USDA officials, Texas A&M leadership and rancher representatives, she stresses this is not a replay of the 1950s and 1960s. Instead, she frames it as a high‑stakes test of a system that has been quietly preparing for more than a year.
By Angie Stump Denton & Haley Bickelhaupt
June 08, 2026 08:05 AM
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