CNN - Earlier this month, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told residents to brace themselves for an “extraordinarily challenging summer.” A flesh-eating parasite that did hundreds of millions of dollars of damage across the state in the 1960s and ’70s, one that had been considered eradicated from the US for decades, has come back and poses a serious threat to cattle, wildlife and pets.
The first case of New World screwworm in this latest outbreak was confirmed June 3 in a 3-week-old calf in South Texas that has since recovered. But despite enhanced surveillance and restrictions on movement, cases continue to turn up hundreds of miles beyond the southern border.
If the parasite’s advance can’t be halted by the state and federal governments’ stepped-up surveillance, containment and treatment efforts, experts say, the outbreak could cost the southwestern United States alone billions of dollars.
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Several states have also taken action to stop screwworm. New Mexico stepped up its surveillance, and some states including South Carolina and New York have created interstate movement health restrictions for warm-blooded animals entering from impacted areas. California is working with the University of California, Riverside to conduct prevention trapping and has sought emergency use authorization for additional treatments.