Texas just declared a statewide disaster over a fly that hasn’t even crossed the border yet—but when larvae burrow into living flesh and eat animals from the inside out, waiting isn’t an option.
When Flesh-Eating Flies Become a National Security Issue
The New World screwworm doesn’t sound particularly menacing until you understand what it does. Female flies lay eggs in open wounds on livestock, wildlife, pets, and occasionally humans. Within hours, larvae hatch and burrow into living tissue, feeding on flesh while the host is still alive. Left untreated, infestations prove fatal. This isn’t theoretical horror—before the 1960s eradication, screwworms devastated cattle operations across the American South, causing economic carnage that forced federal intervention. The pest disappeared from U.S. soil through one of agricultural science’s greatest triumphs: the sterile insect technique.
The Enemy Advances From Panama
For decades after eradication, sterile fly releases from facilities in Panama kept screwworms contained south of Mexico. That containment collapsed. The pest migrated north from Panama, and USDA-confirmed cases now sit in Tamaulipas and Nuevo León—the closest just 70 miles from the Texas border. The third case in González, Tamaulipas, over 200 miles from Texas, arrived without any cattle movement history. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller confirmed what ranchers feared: natural spread, not trade, is driving the invasion. Over 120 monitoring traps along the southern U.S. border track the advance.
Abbott Moves Before the Invasion Arrives
Governor Greg Abbott’s disaster declaration activates the Texas New World Screwworm Response Team, a joint operation between Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and Texas Animal Health Commission. The declaration unlocks full state resources and grants authorities speed and funding latitude that bureaucratic processes typically strangle. Abbott’s statement was direct: “I will not wait for harm… Texas is prepared to fully eradicate.” Miller praised the move for providing “greater authority, resources, speed” to prevent what inaction would guarantee—a biological catastrophe threatening ranchers, wildlife, and the nation’s food security.
The $850 Million Biological Counterstrike
Texas and USDA are constructing an $850 million sterile fly production facility near Edinburg at Moore Air Force Base, designed to churn out 300 million sterilized male screwworm flies weekly. The sterile insect technique floods the environment with males incapable of reproduction; females mate once, rendering their eggs nonviable. Repeated releases collapse populations without chemicals or environmental harm. A dispersion facility, scheduled for completion by late January, will coordinate targeted releases along the border. This facility eliminates reliance on foreign production and ensures rapid domestic response capability for future threats.
If you're adopting a pet make sure they have a CVI from the vet. New World Screwworm is a nasty parasitic fly that feeds off living tissue and is inching ever closer to the US border. Dogs are especially vulnerable. Learn more in the blog: https://t.co/fGNZ2fHdY4 pic.twitter.com/K45gBGPJV2
— Washington State Department of Agriculture (@WSDAgov) January 29, 2026
Why Preemption Beats Reaction Every Time
Critics might question spending hundreds of millions on a pest not yet present in Texas, but the economics tell a different story. Texas’ livestock sector exceeds $20 billion in value. Screwworm infestations decimate herds, killing animals through secondary infections and trauma. The 2016-2017 outbreaks traced to smuggled Caribbean pets required full federal mobilization for eradication. The 1950s invasions, before sterile insect programs existed, caused economic devastation across southern states that dwarfs current prevention costs. USDA classifies screwworms as a threat to national food supply and security—language reserved for existential agricultural risks.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has issued a disaster declaration as the next step to prevent an infestation of the flesh-eating new world screwworm. https://t.co/EiYsXNnRg7
— FOX26Houston (@FOX26Houston) January 30, 2026
The disaster declaration reflects conservative principles applied correctly: state-led action, resource mobilization before crisis, protection of industry backbone, and refusal to wait for federal bureaucracy when threats loom. Abbott’s move prioritizes ranchers and food security over political risk of premature action. The sterile fly facility represents strategic infrastructure investment, creating jobs while defending agriculture. If screwworms breach the border and establish populations, eradication costs and livestock losses multiply exponentially. Preemptive strikes work when the enemy telegraphs its approach—and confirmed cases marching north from Panama provide all the warning rational leadership requires.
Sources:
Texas Abbott disaster declaration screwworm prevention – Fox 26 Houston
Texas Abbott disaster declaration screwworm prevention – Fox 4 News
Gov Abbott issues disaster declaration over screwworm spread – Texas Scorecard