New World screwworm case puts Texas pet owners on alert
A confirmed case in a calf near La Pryor has prompted a quarantine zone of about 12.4 miles. The parasite can affect livestock, dogs, cats and other warm blooded pets.
Texas animal health officials set a quarantine zone about 20 kilometers, or 12.4 miles, around La Pryor after New World screwworm was found in a calf about three weeks old. Animals in that zone need regulatory signoff before leaving the area, and USDA sent a team to assist local authorities. Agricultural Secretary Brooke Rollins said the case appears isolated rather than an infestation.
For pet owners, the risk comes from larvae, not the adult fly. Females lay eggs in wounds, small scratches, surgical sites or openings such as ears, noses or belly buttons; larvae can hatch within 12 hours and feed on living tissue. Pets with unusual open wounds, eggs, larvae or signs of pain should be taken to a vet, and infections are treatable once the larvae are removed.