CORYELL COUNTY, Texas (KXXV) — Texas ranchers are ramping up efforts to protect their herds as a dangerous livestock parasite spreads north from Mexico.
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The New World screwworm, which ranchers describe as a “direct attack on Texas agriculture,” is capable of killing animals within days.
“Screwworm is an absolute threat. It is disgusting,” said Blayr Barnard, owner of Barnard Beef Cattle Co.
“You really don't know when it's going to hit here. One female fly can lay 200 to 300 eggs, and within 24 hours those eggs have hatched, turned vertical, and started screwing into the flesh of the animal. Within seven days, that animal will be dead if not caught,” Barnard said.
Barnard said her team is taking precautions.
“We do look at every calf every day for signs of cuts. We drive through a whole 11,000 acres — 7,000 head at any one time, 9,000 head at any one time — and look for cuts, look for signs of active larvae, anything like that,” she said.
Ranchers are not the only ones preparing. State leaders are also stepping up prevention efforts.
This summer, Gov. Greg Abbott announced a $750 million facility designed to stop the spread of screwworm.
“That takes the screwworm flies and radiates them, which makes them sterile. Then it drops those into active screwworm fly areas. Effectively, they mate until they die, but since they're sterile, they overwhelm the non-sterile population, and therefore the females don’t breed. That is the premise of this, and it did work in the 70s,” Barnard said.
Barnard said the risks go beyond economic losses and threats to cattle.
“I think the horrifying idea is that it does jump into humans. I have three little kids that are running around out here with animals, and kids always have scrapes and scratches on them. So the thought of any of my men or my children having a wound like that is horrible, and so we will continue to keep our eye on this,” she said.
The new multi-million-dollar facility is set to open in Edinburg, Texas, a town near the southern border.
