Screwworm in Texas: Second case confirmed as disaster declaration expands [View all]

Source: khou.com


The second case was found in a one-month-old calf 5.6 miles away from where the first case was detected, according to the USDA.

Stephen Simpson (The Texas Tribune), Berenice Garcia (The Texas Tribune)

Updated: 6:21 AM CDT June 6, 2026


ZAVALA COUNTY, Texas — The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed a second case of New World screwworm in Zavala County on Friday, just hours after Gov. Greg Abbott expanded a statewide disaster declaration in response to the screwworm’s arrival in Texas.

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Abbott’s expanded order authorizes the use of “all available resources of state government to respond to this disaster,” he said shortly before signing the declaration during a news conference in Austin.

The sterile flies are intended to break the reproduction cycle of the parasitic fly.

“Here is the reality of this cycle. This is likely to spread over the course of the summer. During winter months, it may kill off the flies or reduce their number, but we can’t make it through a second summer,” Abbott said. “So I am pushing for the facility in the state of Texas, under construction right now, to be completed by May of next year, as opposed to November of next year.”
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Read more: https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/texas/texas-screwworm-second-case-zavala-county-update/285-79849910-0a92-4d6e-b294-a2d896085e5b