CALDWELL, Texas (KRHD) — As the new world screwworm makes its way into parts of southern Mexico, experts and cattle producers are preparing for its possible impact on agriculture and wildlife.
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Pete Scarmardo, who runs Scarmardo Cattle Company, has firsthand experience with this destructive pest.
"I'm old enough that I had to doctor screwworms back when I was young," Scarmardo said.
The new world screwworm poses a unique threat compared to common maggots.
"A maggot eats dead flesh, the new world screwworms, they eat live flesh, so you've got to really stay on top of your animals if they do get it because they'll continue to eat the flesh," Scarmardo said.
This blowfly species affects all mammals, putting both the local cattle industry and wildlife at risk. Control efforts are facing challenges, according to experts.
"One of the biggest challenges is our main way of controlling it and getting rid of it is with the sterile insect technique, which is a production of males that can't reproduce and when they mate with the females that are naturally found in the wild, they prevent future generations, but we only have one plant that currently can produce those flies so we don't have enough flies to be produced," said Sonja Swiger, professor extensions entomologist at Texas A&M AgriLife.
While preparation efforts continue, education about prevention is equally important.
"Since they do go to a wound, you want to make sure you're keeping your animals healthy — they're not having open wounds, and that you treat those wounds and again make sure there's no maggots inside of them," Swiger said.
For now, Scarmardo says his operation will maintain its current health protocols.
"We'll still try to keep the flies and ticks off the cattle. We'll keep them dewormed, we'll still try to maintain their health," Scarmardo said.
Scarmardo emphasized that consumers shouldn't worry about beef quality or safety, as cattle health is inspected before animals go to market.
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