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The New World screwworm continues to spread. At least 19 cases are confirmed in Texas, which threatens the cattle industry in the country's top beef-producing state. As Texas Public Radio's David Martin Davies reports, screwworm also threatens wildlife like deer.
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DAVID MARTIN DAVIES, BYLINE: Every Friday morning, cattle are prodded into the Beeville, Texas, livestock auction ring. The auctioneer's rapid-fire sales pitch rises above the bawling of cattle as buyers bid. But on a bulletin board nearby, a USDA poster warns ranchers about screwworm. The maggots feed on the living flesh of livestock and other animals. In the 1960s, it was eradicated from the United States and contained in South America, but now it's back.
DONALD HUSER: It's here. I mean, you're just going to have to deal with it.
DAVIES: That's Donald Huser. He operates Coastal Bend Feed, a ranch-supply store in Beeville, 100 miles southeast of San Antonio. He said the USDA should have been better prepared. Two years ago, screwworm reappeared south of the border.
HUSER: They watched it, you know, progress through Mexico. And, you know, they could've got with Big Pharma or whatever and started mass-producing, like, Dectomax and had a bunch prepared for us.
DAVIES: Dectomax is a parasiticide used to treat parasites, including screwworm. Huser said, since news broke that screwworm is in the U.S., it's been in short supply. Huser said he's not confident that ranchers would report it if they found screwworm in one of their animals.
HUSER: What are they going to do? Are they going to come in and they're going to quarantine your herd? How long are they going to quarantine it for?
DAVIES: Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller has expressed similar concerns.
SID MILLER: I had ranchers tell me so - I'm not reporting it. I don't want to be locked down. I'm just going to treat it and shut up.
DAVIES: But now the USDA has clarified it won't lock down ranches with a confirmed case of screwworm. Miller says that makes it more likely that ranchers will self-report. The USDA is also releasing sterile screwworm flies to combat the spread. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins admits there is a shortage of those flies, but USDA is building a new facility in South Texas to produce hundreds of millions more.
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BROOKE ROLLINS: Our goal is to have enough sterile flies deployed and out into Texas and wherever else this happens to be before the next summer season pops up.
DAVIES: But for now, Huser says just checking livestock isn't going to stop the screwworm.
HUSER: Yes, you can check all of your cattle and everything else, but you're not going to catch all your deers. Those are going to be our hosts in this fight.
DAVIES: The wild deer population in Texas is massive - over 5 million, according to the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. Before the screwworm eradication, the population was significantly smaller. It killed 80% of deer fawns.
GAYLON WILMETH-BURLESON: Unfortunately, with wildlife, there is no proven treatment.
DAVIES: Dr. Gaylon Wilmeth-Burleson is a South Texas veterinarian.
WILMETH-BURLESON: My dad can tell me stories about when he was a kid we didn't have a lot of deer down here because of screwworm infestations.
DAVIES: If screwworm decimates Texas deer, that would be a serious hit to the South Texas economy, known globally as a premier destination for producing legendary white-tailed bucks. Hunting here is a multimillion-dollar industry. The state is asking hunters to inspect the deer they find for screwworm, but deer season doesn't start until November. Until then, the spread of screwworm could continue. For NPR News, I'm David Martin Davies in South Texas.
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