Some Rio Grande Valley residents are now better prepared to handle the New World Screwworm  if it were to cross the border.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department held a bilingual screwworm workshop Saturday at the Texas A&M offices in Weslaco.

There are no active cases in the United States, but nearly 800 cases have been reported in Mexico. Some are within 200 miles of the Valley.

The department gave some tips on what farmers can do if their livestock shows signs of an infection.

"You can handle them, you can quarantine them in a pen. The best thing to do for livestock is probably do that until somebody from the Texas Animal Health Commission can be reached and come out to the property and inspect," Texas Parks and Wildlife Division District 11 Leader Eric Garza said.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department says pets and stray animals could also get infected. That's because the parasite spreads through larvae infected flies that lay their eggs on open wounds of mammals.