Officials suspect that the New World screwworm fly has arrived in south Texas, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Wednesday, marking possibly the first time in decades that it has threatened the nation's cattle industry and only the third time it's appeared in the U.S. in that time.
The USDA said in a post on the social platform X that it was testing a sample from a potential infestation of the fly's flesh-eating larvae at its national veterinary lab in Iowa. The agency did not say exactly where the potential case was identified.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins later posted on X that she had met with 50 cattle ranchers and Texas officials, including Gov. Greg Abbott, and said the potential case was "being fully contained."
