USDA Warns Flesh-Eating Screwworm Found 25 Miles From Texas Border
A New World screwworm was found May 28 in a 5-year-old goat in Coahuila, Mexico, about 25 miles from the Texas border, the USDA said.[1]
USDA reported 32 screwworm cases in Coahuila, including 19 active.[1] The agency said the pest is not currently present in the United States and that the risk to U.S. livestock, other animals and people remains very low.[1]
At least 26,216 screwworm cases have been reported in Mexico overall, with about 2,700 active.[1] Detections of the parasitic fly have crept northward across Central America and Mexico in the last three years.[1] In 2025, the first U.S. human case was confirmed in a Maryland traveler returning from El Salvador, with no evidence of onward transmission.[1]
The screwworm's larvae feed on living tissue and can cause severe wounds in animals and people.[1]
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📌 Key Facts
- On Thursday, May 28, 2026, a New World screwworm was detected in a 5-year-old goat in Coahuila, Mexico, about 25 miles from the Texas border.
- USDA reports 32 screwworm cases in Coahuila, including 19 active, and at least 26,216 cases in Mexico overall, with about 2,700 active.
- USDA says the pest is not currently present in the U.S. and that the current risk to U.S. livestock, other animals and people remains very low.
- The screwworm, a parasitic fly whose larvae can eat living tissue, has been detected increasingly farther north in Central America and Mexico over the past three years.
- In 2025, the first U.S. human case was confirmed in a Maryland traveler returning from El Salvador, with no evidence of onward transmission.
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