In Texas, the second case of a parasite dangerous to livestock detected

The US Department of Agriculture announced on Friday that it had detected a second case of a parasite devastating livestock in Texas, after a first detection earlier this week triggered a race against time to stop its progression. The ministry “confirmed a second detection of New World screwworm in a one-month-old calf in Zavala County, Texas, approximately 9 kilometers from the first case.”wrote on X a government account dedicated to tracking this parasite.

Sixty years after its eradication from American soil, the screwworm was detected Wednesday near the border with Mexico, the beginning of a resurgence which is of great concern to American breeders, particularly in the sector bovine.

Skip the ad

This insect is a type of fly whose larva feeds on the flesh of animals, creating serious and potentially fatal lesions. It can affect livestock, but also wildlife, domestic animals and humans. The United States succeeded in eradicating it in 1966 and then managed to eliminate a resurgence in southern Florida in 2017. But the parasite remained present in South America and has progressed northward in recent years. years, worrying the American authorities.

Release of millions of sterile flies

When the first case was announced, the authorities announced a series of measures, including the creation of a 20-kilometer quarantine zone around the farm where the case was detected, but also the release of millions of sterile flies. It was thanks to this technique that the United States succeeded in getting rid of this parasite at the beginning of the 1960s.

According to the Department of Agriculture, a resurgence of the parasite could cost $1.8 billion in Texas alone.