The New World Screwworm — a flesh-eating fly whose larvae burrow into living animal tissue to feed — has now reached 25 confirmed cases in Texas livestock, according to the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. The confirmed cases are all in sheep and cattle in Medina, Crockett, and Edwards Counties in southwest Texas, but the parasitic fly does not discriminate by species.
"NWS can infest any warm-blooded animal," according to CIDRAP's reporting on the Texas expansion — including dogs, cats, and, rarely, humans. Any animal with an open wound in or near the quarantine-affected counties is a potential host.
