Policies & Impacts

Texas Races to Contain Flesh-Eating Parasite Amid Threat to Livestock

Ranchers are preparing their herds as officials look to speed up production of sterile flies to combat the screwworm outbreak.
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Texas Races to Contain Flesh-Eating Parasite Amid Threat to Livestock
A ranch worker drives cattle to a corral for inspection for New World screwworm at a ranch in Cintalapa, Chiapas, Mexico, on July 23, 2025. AP Photo/Isabel Mateos
Darlene McCormick Sanchez
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Texas is racing to contain a flesh-eating parasite that can infect animals and, more rarely, humans, causing horrific wounds that can be fatal if left untreated.

​The New World screwworm has infected three calves and a goat in Texas. Officials confirmed a fifth case in New Mexico involving a dog that traveled to Mexico on June 8.

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Darlene McCormick Sanchez
Darlene McCormick Sanchez
Senior Reporter
Darlene McCormick Sanchez is an Epoch Times reporter who covers border security and immigration, election integrity, and Texas politics. Ms. McCormick Sanchez has 20 years of experience in media and has worked for outlets including Waco Tribune Herald, Tampa Tribune, and Waterbury Republican-American. She was a finalist for a Pulitzer prize for investigative reporting.