The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed a second case of New World screwworm in Zavala County on Friday, just hours after Gov. Greg Abbott expanded a statewide disaster declaration in response to the screwworm’s arrival in Texas.

The second case was found in a one-month-old calf 5.6 miles away from where the first case was detected on Wednesday, according to a USDA social media post. USDA deployed mobile response teams and increased surveillance in the area in response to the detection, the post said.

Abbott's expanded order authorizes the use of “all available resources of state government to respond to this disaster,” he said shortly before signing the declaration during a news conference in Austin.

The order further reassigns all resources from across the state as needed and makes available all state personnel, including those from university systems, to speed the shipment of sterile flies into Texas and the construction of a sterile fly facility in South Texas.

The sterile flies are intended to break the reproduction cycle of the parasitic fly.

“Here is the reality of this cycle. This is likely to spread over the course of the summer. During winter months, it may kill off the flies or reduce their number, but we can’t make it through a second summer,” Abbott said. “So I am pushing for the facility in the state of Texas, under construction right now, to be completed by May of next year, as opposed to November of next year.” 

The state is prioritizing resources for Zavala County and nearby Uvalde County. 

USDA established a 20-kilometer “infested zone” that prevents the movement of animals from the area without an inspection. A much wider surveillance zone — including Uvalde, Lima Grande and Crystal City —  surrounds the quarantined area in Zavala County.

Abbott was briefed on the screwworm situation Friday by state and federal officials. At a news conference afterward, he said his order — which expanded a disaster declaration he issued in January — directed all state agencies to be ready to respond. 

Abbott said the federal government is covering the cost of building facilities to raise and distribute sterile flies, adding that state agencies don’t need additional funds to meet his order but money will be provided if necessary.

“We need a high volume of sterile flies as quickly as possible. It’s great news we are getting the volume that we are getting both from Panama, as well as Mexico, but listen, it's critical that the new facility that is being constructed right now be completed even faster,” Abbott said. 

USDA representatives praised the federal response, saying their projections showed the screwworm was expected to arrive in Texas last year and that their efforts, combined with the state’s, had held it back until now.  

The governor’s expanded disaster proclamation follows a series of emergency declarations by county judges, including those in Kinney, Jim Webb and Uvalde counties. 

State law gives broad authority to the Texas governor and health commissioner in times of crisis, including the ability to waive laws that hinder state agencies’ ability to appropriately respond to screwworm. 

A sample from a 3-week-old calf from La Pryor in Zavala County tested positive for the country’s first case of New World screwworm, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said June 3.

The infested calf was doing well, officials said, and an inspection of its herd found no other cases of screwworm. There have been no other signs of screwworm in the country so far.

The USDA said in a social media post earlier that it had activated personnel on the ground and was working with local partners. The federal agency also said issues with screwworm shouldn’t immediately cause food supply chain issues, as screwworms do not infect meat, fruits or vegetables.

However, an outbreak of screwworm threatens to do $1.8 billion in damage to Texas’ economy, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture estimate. An outbreak also could increase already record-high beef prices nationwide, given the state’s importance to the cattle industry. 

Screwworm in the flesh of an infested animal will cause significant damage to the wound, as flies repeatedly cycle in and out, lay eggs, and enlarge the wound, leading to illness and death. 

Even if the animal survives, there’s usually extensive damage to the animal’s hide and health. 

Cattle are particularly susceptible to screwworm due to their inability to protect an open wound, and their large frame can allow eggs to develop in multiple locations from a single cut. 

“Texas livestock producers and all Texans must now be vigilant in their efforts to manage and combat the invasive pest,” Farm Bureau President Russell Boening said in a statement after screwworm had been confirmed in Texas.

Some South Texas officials are frustrated by what they say has been a lack of communication from the USDA. 

“It’s a complete lack of information,” said Val Verde County Judge Lewis Owens.

As cases of screwworm continued to pop up in Mexico over the last year, some within 25 miles of the Texas border, Owens said border counties have been kept in the dark over the exact location of the cases. The situation, he said, has left them unable to provide answers to their communities.

“A little bit of communication goes a long way,” Owens said.?”If we know what the hell's going on, then I can tell my constituents. If we don't, then the anger goes up.”

Owens also took issue with Rollins blaming the proliferation of screwworm on President Joe Biden’s “open border” policies, which she said enabled the illicit movement of cattle throughout Mexico.

“These flies do not fly to new areas on their own,” Rollins said during a call with media and officials on Thursday. “If they move, it’s because they are moving with the animal.”

Owens pointed out that the USDA, under the Biden administration, closed ports of entry to cattle from Mexico in November 2024. The Trump administration announced their reopening in February 2025 only to shut them down again in May 2025.

Crossings have been shut down, Owens said, adding: “So, let's not keep blaming individuals or blaming other parties.”

Nowell Borders, an Edinburg rancher with ranches in Mexico, said he was concerned about his animals but was more worried about wildlife that will be much more difficult to catch and check for screwworm.

“Deer is a several billion dollar business in Texas and hunting, and I think it could be a detriment, a huge detriment to wildlife,” Borders said.

Borders owns a 100,000-square-foot facility in South Texas that he has offered as a pop-up production facility for sterile flies.

Scientists say dispersing sterile screwworm flies is the most efficient way to eradicate the pest. The sterile male flies reproduce with female screwworm flies, which can mate only once in their lifetime, producing unviable eggs.

The USDA is building a facility in Edinburg that will produce 300 million sterile flies per week. However, that facility is not expected to begin operating until fall 2027.

“I specifically offered anybody and everybody from Texas A&M, anybody and everybody from any state agency, offering to ensure construction can be conducted 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to make sure the facility in Texas will be up and running even faster than what is currently scheduled,” Abbott said Friday.

Federal officials are also working with Mexican partners to launch a facility in Metapa, Mexico that is expected to open later this month. Currently, the only active sterile fly production facility is in Panama. Sterile flies from that facility have been shipped to dispersal facilities in Mexico and Edinburg to help spread sterile flies to needed areas.

The USDA has dispersed more than 130 million sterile flies in Texas since January.

Borders said a pop-up facility on his property could be up and running in about a month. The federal government has, so far, not taken him up on his offer.

For now, he’d like the USDA and state partners to start dispersing sterile flies as far north as San Antonio as soon as possible.

“I think that's the most important thing you could get going,” Borders said. “They need a facility to start, like, last week.”

Michael Schmoyer, associate administrator with the USDA, said the agency responded swiftly to the first confirmed case, with officials on site and deploying sterile flies within hours.

Eleven containers, each carrying 80,000 to 100,000 sterile flies, have been deployed, Schmoyer said.

Earlier this year, the USDA began dropping sterile flies over a 50-mile area north of the Texas border and will now drop 4 million flies a week over the infestation area.

This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.