CBP warns South Texas travelers of flesh-eating screwworm threat

LAREDO, Texas - U.S. Customs and Border Protection is warning travelers in South Texas of the threat of the New World Screwworm (NWS), a parasite that officials say poses a threat to the state's meat industry.

Texas screwworm warnings

The latest:

CBP Laredo Field Office is distributing an informational tearsheet at the southern border in English and Spanish that advises about the threat of NWS. The distribution locations are at eight ports of entry from Brownsville to Del Rio, Texas that comprise the Laredo Field Office area of responsibility, the department said. 

What they're saying:

"We are working to increase public awareness regarding New World Screwworm so that the public can help prevent this invasive pest from reaching the U.S. and adversely affecting U.S. livestock and pets," said Director, Field Operations Donald R. Kusser, Laredo Field Office. "By distributing these tearsheets and amplifying via social media, we are hoping to bring this message to the widest audience possible."

NWS threat in Texas

Local perspective:

While NWS has not been detected in Texas, it's been seen as close as 55 miles from the southern border in Mexico. The USDA is ramping up warnings and determent to prevent the parasite from spreading into the states. 

U.S. plan to fight screwworm in Texas

Big picture view:

The threat to cattle has been deemed so potentially devastating to the U.S. food supply that the federal government is committing $850 million to fight it.

Most of that money will be spent on building a sterile male fly production facility near the border.

The facility will produce 300 million sterile male flies a week to be dropped into target areas where the screwworm is now. Those male flies help to reduce the population size through mating without reproducing.

A much smaller portion of the funding will be used for screwworm detection technology.

In addition, the federal government has already spent $21 million on a sterile fly production facility in Mexico.

What are New World screwworms?

Dig deeper:

The insect gets its name because it’s only found in the Americas. 

It lays its eggs in the open wounds of animals, and its larvae become parasites, threatening livestock, domestic animals, and even people.

The screwworm was mostly eradicated in Texas and the rest of the United States in the 60s. But now, it’s moving north up from Panama and has a known presence a little over 300 miles south of the Texas-Mexico border.