Valley county judges warn residents of potential screwworm threat
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All four Rio Grande Valley county judges held a Monday joint news conference urging pet and livestock owners to watch for signs of the New World screwworm, a parasitic fly that feeds on the wounds of warm-blooded animals.
There are no active cases of the screwworm in the U.S., but there is one active case about 200 miles west of Laredo in the Mexican state of Coahuila, near the border.
Nearly 2,000 active cases exist across Mexico. About 200 of those are near the Texas border.
The judges are asking anyone with an animal that has fresh wounds with maggots to get it checked out by a veterinarian.
"We're emphasizing urgency but without sounding alarmist," Willacy County Judge Aurelio "Keter" Guerra said. "We need to make sure that this thing doesn't come before us and spread because then our resources will be stretched.”
The screwworm can affect dogs, cats, cattle and deer. Several drugs with emergency approval from the Food and Drug Administration are available to help prevent and treat it.
Dr. Janessa Garza, a veterinarian in Mission, said pet owners can reduce the risk by keeping up with basic care.
"Our indoor pets, our pets that are on heartworm, flea, and tick prevention are much less likely to experience this," Garza said.
She also offered some reassurance to pet owners who may be worried.
"Don't freak out just because your pet has a wound,” Garza said. “Just because there's a wound doesn't mean that these larvae will just magically appear. We haven't seen screwworm infections in our patients here.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is building a nearly $800 million facility on Moorefield Road west of Edinburg to mass-produce sterile flies. Construction began last month.
In February, Channel 5 News was at Moore Air Force Base to see how fly larvae are dyed to mass-produce infertile male flies. The goal is to stop female fly eggs from hatching and slow the spread of the screwworm.
The primary facility that breeds sterile flies is currently in Panama. The USDA says the Edinburg facility won't be completed until the end of next year.
Watch the video above for the full story.
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