A panel of the Texas House Agriculture and Livestock Committee’s hearing on Friday, October 2 covered a variety of issues affecting the country’s agricultural industry, including New World Screwworm ( NWS), which celebrates the state’s accomplishments in halting its spread and opine about a rise in cases in Mexico.
Since the first confirmation in June, the U.S. Department of Agriculture ( USDA ) has identified 52 cases of this flesh-eating livestock pest, 51 of which have been discovered in Texas. One case was found entirely within Texas’s Texas borders, while another was located entirely within New Mexico.
The majority of cases are found in West Texas, in counties including Val Verde, Edwards, and Crockett, while a significantly smaller number are found clustered near Roma, according to the USDA’s interactive NWS case dashboard and the Texas Animal Health Commission’s ( TAHC ) interactive map of NWS zones.
While there were more than a few cases in July, just four and three cases, between, were reported in August and September. Just one case has been confirmed so far in October, in a dog in Brewster County.
The committee also heard testimony from a number of leaders in the state’s agricultural sector during the hearing, which included some preliminary allegations that Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock ) had asked lawmakers to look into before the 90th Legislative Session.
The “invasive types” fee includes feral hogs and other parasites as well as the phrase” study the monitoring and management of invasive species and insects impacting Texas crops, including New World screwworm… Learn present protection, response, and eradication efforts.”
Witnesses typically praised Texas ‘ efforts to prepare for the NWS’s onslaught and its response, while voicing their concern that its neighbor Mexico’s ongoing fight against the outbreak.
” Great work we did in Texas to make it through the summer.” There is no doubt about it. Everyone was shocked out of the heck of it, according to Thomas Lansford, a representative of the TAHC.
” All heaven is clearly going on in Mexico,” Lansford said.
The USDA is now tracking 216 sheep NWS cases in Mexico through September 30; 2, 032 of those cases are regarded as active cases.
Dr. Lewis R.” Bud” Dinges, a different TAHC agent and the executive director of the state vet in Texas, praised the NWS’s response in Texas, saying,” None of the progress… would have been possible without the attention and involvement of animal manufacturers, veterinarians, landowners, and other members of the public.”
However, he continued,” Our work will continue until the New World Screwworm is forced out of Texas and back into Mexico.” It will continue to pose a threat to Texas and the United States until the parasite is completely eradicated from Mexico.
Since the USDA discovered the first case in Zavala County in June, more than 1.4 billion barren flies have been released as of October 1 to herd with the pests and stop reproduction, a strategy that led to the NWS’s exclusion from the United States in 1966.
Witnesses noted that Texas could not yet rest easy because of the continuing increase in the pest’s appearance in Mexico and that the pandemic may reduce Texas ‘ protection from the Lone Star State’s present barren travel population.
In response to questions from Chairman Ryan Guillen (R-Rio Grande City ) about the need for sterile flies to deal with outbreaks in other states, Lansford continued,” With flies moving to the north and the west, and Mexico… New Mexico is already in play… and then that brings Arizona and California into play.”
If those states have cases, he said,” they’re going to take away what sterile flies we continue to spread over our infested areas, and it’s going to diminish what we have at our disposal.”
Responders at the hearing agreed that as NWS spreads north and west through Mexico, even though federal and local collaboration has been successful.
