Threat to American Livestock – New World Screwworm (NWS) fly, considered to have been eradicated by the country since 1966, has reappeared as a potential danger after an outbreak in Mexico.
The news has caused the closure of cows, horses and bison Imported together The southern border was announced by USDA Secretary Brook Rollins on Sunday in the X-Post.
“Due to the threat of screw bugs in the New World, I am announcing the immediate import of live cows, horses and bison through the border ports south of the United States,” she wrote in the Post.
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“It took our cattle industry 30 years to recover when this devastating pest invaded America. This cannot happen again.”
What are the new world screwworms?
According to the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Testing Service (APHIS), the NWS is an endemic flies in Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and several South American countries.
Cochliomyia hominivorax, a New World Screwworm Flying, or for short, is a species of parasitic fly that is known for its larvae (rabbits) eat the living tissue of animals. (istock)
The fly itself can be found in forests and other wooded areas, but according to the above sources, it searches for hosts like cows and horses in the grass and fields.
Female fly places their eggs in the wounds or openings of a living, warm-blooded animal. The eggs then hatch into larvae (maggots) and dig holes in the meat, causing potentially fatal damage.
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Screwworms are named after maggots’ behavior as they drill holes in the meat similar to how screws are driven into wood.
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According to the APHIS website, “Seriously, it causes major damage by tearing the host tissue with a sharp mouth hook.” This allows for more flies to expand the wound and attract more flies to lay eggs.
According to the above source, women lay eggs in the wounds or openings of live animals. The eggs then hatch into larvae (maggots) and dig holes in the meat, causing potentially fatal damage. (Arami)
In rare cases, larvae can eat people, centers for disease control and prevention.
These invasions can be extremely painful and can cause serious, potentially fatal damage to the host by causing parasitic infections of fly larvae in human tissues.
Risk factors and prevention
Screwworms are often found in South America and the Caribbean.
“People who travel to these areas, spend time among livestock animals, sleep outdoors and suffer open wounds are at a higher risk of invading the NWS,” the CDC says.
“A wound as small as a tick bite can seduce a woman to keep her.”
According to the above sources, immunodeficiency, very young, or very old, or malnourished people are also at a higher risk of infection.
According to the CDC, those who have undergone recent surgery are at a higher risk, “as fly lay eggs in open pain.”
Potential impact
If another outbreak occurs in the US, “pets, livestock, wildlife, and even humans may suffer and die from screw worm myopathy,” the USDA warned.
The USDA estimates that livestock producers in the southwestern United States lost between $50 million and $100 million a year before the NWS was steadily eradicated in the 1950s and 1960s. (istock)
The USDA estimates that livestock producers in the southwestern United States lost between $50 million and $100 million a year before the NWS was steadily eradicated in the 1950s and 1960s.
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“Presumably these higher losses in the southwest were due to higher livestock populations, larger geographical areas and/or the NWS are more likely to overwinter,” the report states.
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The USDA eradicated the NWS in 1966, but it was there Outbreak Included in Florida Keys in 2016. It was only affected by the number of endangered deer species, and was eradicated by each affiliate by March 2017.
Greg Wenner contributed the report.
