Federal officials confirmed two additional New World screwworm cases in Texas Thursday, bringing the state's total to eight and the nationwide count to nine, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The newly confirmed cases involve a goat in Edwards County and cattle in Zavala County, according to USDA data.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE | New World Screwworm case confirmed in Texas, bringing total of cases in the U.S. to six
Texas now accounts for eight of the nine confirmed U.S. cases:
June 11, 2026 — Edwards County, Texas: goat
June 11, 2026 — Zavala County, Texas: cattle
June 9, 2026 — Edwards County, Texas: cattle
June 8, 2026 — Gillespie County, Texas: goat
June 8, 2026 — La Salle County, Texas: cattle
June 7, 2026 — Lea County, New Mexico: dog
June 7, 2026 — La Salle County, Texas: cattle
June 5, 2026 — Zavala County, Texas: cattle
June 3, 2026 — Zavala County, Texas: cattle
USDA APHIS said it continues to work closely with the Texas Animal Health Commission on surveillance, reporting and control efforts. All nine cases reported nationwide involve domestic animals; no cases have been confirmed in wildlife.
New World screwworm is a parasitic fly whose larvae burrow into the living flesh of warm-blooded animals, causing severe tissue damage and potential death. The USDA has released more than 130 million sterile male flies in Texas since January in an effort to break the pest's reproductive cycle.
Officials urge livestock and pet owners to watch animals for draining wounds, maggots, signs of discomfort and lesions near body openings. Suspected cases should be reported immediately to a veterinarian or USDA. The U.S. food supply is not at risk.
More information is available at screwworm.gov.
RociBuldidi on June 13rd, 2026 at 18:14 UTC »
The screw worm program that got DOGEd last year cost $15M a year and had been keeping Screworms out of the US for near 50 years.
Now we are spending $850M this year in an emergency project to address the screworms.
You can’t make this junk up
Tibreaven on June 13rd, 2026 at 18:05 UTC »
100 years of US screwworm prevention projects. 20 years of near-eliminated screwworms past Panama.
I know the average person in the US doesn't know anything about this, and won't learn anything from this, but it's incredibly sad how long it takes to achieve success, and how fast it can be completely eliminated.
invyros on June 13rd, 2026 at 17:56 UTC »
If only we had the foresight to monitor and contain these screwworms before they got to America.
What's that, USAID was running this exact program in Central America?
What's that, DOGE cut funding and killed this exact program last year?
That would imply that the corruption and incompetence of the Trump admin has harmed America, and there's no way that's the case, right?