Screwworm cases spark concerns for cattle industry #shorts

Authorities say there are now three more cases of New World screwworm, bringing the total number to at least five and sparking new concerns for the country's cattle industry.

The initial cases were discovered last week in two calves located within a few miles of each other in South Texas. The latest cases were found hundreds of miles apart: One in a calf near San Antonio, another in a goat near Austin, a third in a dog in New Mexico.

In a news conference Monday, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said every effort is being made to control additional cases.

"We now know what the enemy looks like. We now understand what we have to do. This is not a virus. It is not a disease. It is a pest. And so we obviously are treating it as such," Rollins said.

Agricultural officials have sounded the alarm about the threat of infestation since a case was detected in Mexico in late 2024. The insect was a scourge for cattle ranchers for years until it was largely eliminated in the U.S. in the 1960s.

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