Texas, screwworm
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The Texas Tribune on MSN1d
U.S. will build sterile fly factory in Texas to stop screwworm from devastating livestock industry
Mounted patrol officers, known as tick riders, who typically patrol the southern border to protect cattle from fever tick, will also now serve as the first line of defense against screwworm.
On Friday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins publicly addressed “plans to fight back against threats posed by the New World screwworm.”
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins today at the Texas State Capitol alongside Governor Greg Abbott and stakeholders from across the country announced the largest initiative yet in the U.S.
The facility will have the capacity to produce 300 million sterile screwworm flies per week, tripling the current capacity to combat the New World screwworm threat.
The parasitic fly that attacks warm-blooded animals was eliminated from the United States in the 1960s, but it’s creeping toward the Texas-Mexico border.
Scott Varilek with Kooima Kooima Varilek says the big losses in the cattle market on Thursday were tied to concerns ahead of USDA's New World screwworm (NWS) announcement. Grains are bouncing on value and technical buying.
Lina de Florias fills in and covers the top afternoon reports from Houston and beyond for Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025.
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