Texas Scorecard by Addie Hovland December 10, 2025
The New World Screwworm has been labeled a serious threat to Texas wildlife and its cattle industry by state agricultural officials. Officials from both the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Texas Department of Agriculture updated state lawmakers on efforts to combat the New World Screwworm, which has been nearing Texas’ southern border with Mexico.
Originating in South America, the New World Screwworm is a parasite that eats the tissue of warm-blooded mammals. Texas agriculture officials have called the pest a dire threat to the state’s wildlife population and to the nearly $15 billion cattle industry.
Dudley Hoskins, an under secretary with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, informed Texas House lawmakers during a joint hearing before the committees on Agriculture & Livestock and Culture, Recreation & Tourism that the actions taken by the USDA so far have seemingly been successful.
“On behalf of the secretary and the department, I can assure you that keeping New World screwworm out of the United States is the highest priority for Secretary Rollins and the entire Trump Administration,” Hoskins told the committee. “The secretary has been leading the whole-of-government approach, all-hands-on-deck [effort] within USDA and within our interagency family.”
More:
https://texasscorecard.com/state/feds-deploy-traps-sterile-flies-as-flesh-eating-parasite-nears-texas/
