The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed an additional three cases of New World screwworm, bringing the total number of detections in the U.S. to five and raising concerns over a broader spread of the parasite.
The fly was detected in a calf in La Salle County, Texas, a goat in Gillespie County, Texas, and a dog in New Mexico, the agency said Monday. That comes after two cases were confirmed last week in calves in Zavala County in southern Texas, marking the first U.S. detection of the fly in over a decade, and the first in cattle in about five decades.
The detection in La Salle County is close to Zavala, where the past two cattle cases were confirmed. But the confirmation of screwworm in the dog places the pest far outside that region and across state lines. The animal had initially been linked to Andrews County in Texas because it was reported by a veterinarian in the state, but the dog¡¯s home is in Lea County, New Mexico, the USDA clarified later Monday.
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