As a new threat approaches the southern border, Texas is taking decisive action to protect both the state and the whole country as Americans know them.
Specifically, Governor Greg Abbott seeks to protect Texas’ $15 billion cattle industry from a flesh-eating parasite.
The Texas New World Screwworm Response Team will combat this invasive species that feeds on the living tissue of warm-blooded animals.
Underscoring the dire danger, the parasite poses a threat to livestock, wildlife, and potentially humans.
Texas now stands as America’s first line of defense against an economic and ecological disaster.
The threat comes from the New World screwworm, a parasitic fly whose larvae consume the living flesh of animals.
Once eradicated from the United States in the 1960s, these dangerous pests have been spreading northward through Central America and are now in southern Mexico, approaching the Texas border.
The Texas Animal Health Commission and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department will coordinate the response team.
Their mission is critical, as an unchecked infestation could devastate ranchers, farmers, and wildlife populations throughout the state and potentially spread to other parts of the country.
Directed the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department and the Texas Animal Health Commission to establish a Texas New World Screwworm Response Team.
Texas will proactively address the New World screwworm threat.
We are ready to protect our land, livestock, and wildlife. pic.twitter.com/P27eUIPpXS
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) June 25, 2025
“It’s a fly larva that eats living flesh. It’s kind of something out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie almost,” warned Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, highlighting the gruesome nature of the threat.
The federal government has temporarily halted cattle imports at the southern border, but Texas officials are not waiting for Washington to solve the problem.
The state is deploying pheromone traps and urging ranchers to remain vigilant for signs of infestation. Abbott’s administration is also pushing for a sterile fly production facility in Texas.
“As a border state, Texas represents the first line of defense against the potential re-entry of this harmful pest into the United States,” the governor emphasized, underscoring the state’s critical role in national biosecurity.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is planning an $8.5 million fly factory at Moore Air Base in Edinburg, Texas, which will breed sterile male flies to help control the screwworm population.
Additionally, $20 million is being invested in a facility in Mexico. These sterile flies will be released over Mexico by planes to prevent screwworms from reaching U.S. soil.
Congressman Tony Gonzales did not mince words about the potential impact: “Very soon, people are going to know what a screwworm is because they can’t barbecue on the weekends.”
Texas previously played a significant role in eradicating screwworms from the United States in the 1960s.
With the formation of this specialized response team, Abbott demonstrates that Texas is taking proactive measures to protect its citizens, economy, and wildlife from yet another threat approaching from across the southern border.
