Flesh-Eating Screwworm Detected 25 Miles From US Border in Mexico, USDA Says

The latest detection in an infected goat follows a pattern of northward creep documented over the past year.

Goats in Tula, Chilapa de Alvarez municipality, Guerrero state, Mexico, on May 19, 2026. Yuri Cortez /AFP via Getty Images

A flesh-eating parasite known as the New World screwworm was detected in a Mexican goat just 25 miles south of the U.S. border with Texas. 

The parasite infested a 5-year-old goat in Mexico’s Coahuila state, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins told reporters during a call on Tuesday. It marks the closest confirmed detection to the United States during the current outbreak.