A second case of the flesh‑eating New World screwworm has been confirmed in Texas, only miles from the Mexican border, prompting Canada to shut its border to Texas livestock and Governor Greg Abbott to declare a state of disaster over what he warns is an “imminent threat.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced on Friday that a second infestation of screwworm larvae had been found in a calf in Zavala County, Texas. The second finding took place on the ranch near the Texas-Mexico border, about 5.6 miles from the case found earlier this week. The discovery of the second incident of the flesh-eating screwworm prompted Governor Abbott to issue a disaster declaration and apply additional state resources to combat the outbreak.
In a statement on Friday, Governor Abbott stated:
First, I authorize the use of all available resources of state government to respond to this disaster and reassign resources from across the state as needed to address NWS. Second, I am making all state personnel available to accelerate the movement of sterile flies into Texas and the construction of the new sterile screwworm production facility in Edinburg. We have eradicated this pest before, and we will do it again.
Hellbound and Down 