Flesh-Eating Screwworm Cases Rise to 15 After New Detections in Texas: USDA

The USDA said it would continue carrying out ‘aggressive eradication efforts’ alongside state partners to eradicate the screwworms.

Cattle are driven to a pasture for grazing at Sovereignty Ranch in Bandera, Texas, on May 2, 2026. Bobby Sanchez for The Epoch Times

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said on June 21 that three more cases of the flesh-eating New World screwworm have been detected in Texas, bringing the total in the United States to 15.

The latest cases involved a lamb in Crockett County and two calves in Edwards County, Texas. The USDA said in a post on X that it would immediately begin releasing sterile flies outside the affected areas in Crockett County following the new detection there.