Texas extends screwworm zone to El Paso after case in a dog
The state animal-health agency signed the order Wednesday. The parasite turned up Tuesday in the county next to Ciudad Juárez, and moving animals now takes a permit.
The Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) has extended the screwworm infested zone to part of El Paso County, which borders Ciudad Juárez. The parasite turned up in a dog on Tuesday, Oct. 27.
The order, signed Wednesday by executive director Lewis R. Dinges, takes effect immediately. It creates Infested Zone 25.A, covering parts of El Paso and Hudspeth counties, and replaces the Oct. 24 zone drawn in Hudspeth alone after the worm was found in cattle there.
No warm-blooded animal may leave the zone without prior authorization. Moving one requires an inspection, treatment if the commission calls for it, and a permit or certificate. The same goes for hides, carcasses and other parts of susceptible animals, which are checked before they leave. Moving animals without approval can bring administrative penalties or criminal charges, and the restriction stays in place until the quarantine is lifted.
The order does not say where in the county the dog was found or how the animal is doing.
What the screwworm is
The New World screwworm is the larva of a fly that feeds on the living tissue of warm-blooded animals. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) calls it a pest that can kill livestock, pets and wildlife and rarely infects people. The United States eradicated it in 1966 with the sterile insect technique and contained an outbreak in the Florida Keys in 2017. It has since moved north again from Central America, through Mexico.
Texas already had detections this year. As of Oct. 29, the TAHC counted 20 counties with at least one confirmed case and 50 premises affected, figures that may not yet include El Paso. What is new is that the parasite reached a border county, and that the case is a pet.
Among its recommendations for pet owners, the TAHC lists checking animals for wounds, flies, larvae or eggs, and taking an infested animal to a veterinarian. To report a suspected case in a companion animal, the commission gives the number 1-800-550-8242. The USDA asks that any suspicious wound, larva or infestation in animals or people be reported right away.
There is a trade angle, too. The USDA is reopening the border to Mexican cattle in stages: through Santa Teresa, New Mexico, since Sept. 24; through Columbus, since Oct. 26; and through Nogales, Arizona, on Nov. 30, as planned.
The order's restrictions apply to anyone who keeps animals inside Zone 25.A or moves them out of it. The pet recommendations apply to owners in general. Neither the order nor the USDA mentions human cases in this zone.
