After spending four decades in exile south of the Rio Grande, the New World screwworm has finally wriggled its way back into Texas. The return of the parasitic worm has been splashed across national, state, and local headlines for the past couple weeks with equal measures of trepidation and disgust, prompting alarm and pledges of swift action from government officials.
It’s potentially devastating news for Texas livestock producers, who stand to lose $1.8 billion if the screwworm is allowed to reinfest the state. Circumstances are even more dire for the cows, horses, sheep, and goats that constitute the worms’ favored prey—were they up to speed on current events, their ranks would be aquiver with terror.
