.jpg)
Not to Alarm Anyone, but Flesh-Eating Screwworms Have Entered the US
Key takeaways
- Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins later posted that the testing had confirmed the infection, which was found in a three-week-old calf in Zavala County, Texas.
- Chatter of a screwworm detection had already been building this week, rattling the US cattle industry.
- Although many animals, including humans, can be victims of the parasite, the screwworm is especially dangerous to livestock.
Why this matters: a development in AI with implications for how people work, create, and decide.
Photograph: Ramdan Fatoni/Getty Images Comment Loader Save Story Save this story Comment Loader Save Story Save this story. A case of New World screwworm has been confirmed in South Texas, the US Department of Agriculture announced Wednesday night. It marks the first detected breach of the US-Mexico border by the ravenous flesh-eating flies, which have been making their way up through Central America for the past several years.
In a social media post on Wednesday afternoon, the USDA revealed that a sample from Texas had been sent to the National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) in Ames, Iowa, for confirmatory testing of a screwworm infection. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins later posted that the testing had confirmed the infection, which was found in a three-week-old calf in Zavala County, Texas.
Chatter of a screwworm detection had already been building this week, rattling the US cattle industry.