06/04/2026
๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฌ ๐๐ค๐ง๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ค๐ง๐ขโฆ๐๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐ฉ ๐พ๐ค๐ช๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐พ๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ก๐, ๐ฝ๐๐๐, & ๐๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐๐ง๐ค๐๐๐ง๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐๐ก๐ก
Yesterday, USDA confirmed the first U.S. case of New World Screwworm in nearly 60 years after it was found in a calf in South Texas, and judging by the headlines, I figure most folks are probably asking the same thing: โWhat in the world even is a screwworm?โ
Despite the name, it is not actually a worm. It is a fly. And frankly, a nasty one.
The adult fly itself is not the problem. The problem comes when the female lays eggs in an open wound on a warm-blooded animal. Once those eggs hatch, the larvae (maggots) begin feeding on living flesh, not dead tissue like most folks think of when they hear the word maggot.
And when I say โopen wound,โ I am not talking about some dramatic, life-threatening injury either. That is the scary part for cattle producers.
A calfโs fresh navel. A scrape on barbed wire. Branding sites. Castration wounds. Tick bites. Ear tags. A rubbed tailhead. Even little everyday ranch scrapes and cuts can attract screwworm flies. One female can lay hundreds of eggs at a time, and once those larvae hatch, they burrow deeper into healthy tissue and the wound can go downhill fast.
In ranching terms? A calf can go from looking perfectly fine to โsomething ainโt rightโ quicker than most folks realize.
Now before anybody panics and swears off hamburgers, letโs clear something up: this is NOT a food safety issue. You are not buying โscrewworm beefโ at the grocery store. USDA inspection systems exist for a reason, and compromised animals do not simply walk into the food chain unchecked. This is primarily an animal health and cattle production issue, which means consumers could eventually feel the effects through cattle supply and beef prices.
Right now, uncertainty alone is enough to make markets nervous. But if this spreads or results in livestock movement restrictions, especially through Southern cattle country or feeder pipelines from Mexico, we could eventually see increased production costs for ranchers, more treatment expense and calf loss, tighter cattle supplies, and eventually higher beef prices at the grocery store.
Nowโฆfor the cowboys. There may be one silver lining in all of this.
We may get to make a whole lot more actual ranch horses again.
Because if cattle start needing gathered, checked, roped, doctored, and sorted more often, horses are gonna have to go to work. Real work. Not โworks cows twice a week and is gritty on Instagramโ work. Iโm talking long days, rough country, brush, heat, flies, standing tied while somebody digs around in a wound, and dragging tired cattle to a trailer.
So I sure hope some of these little โcow horsesโ folks keep advertising have enough motor, bone, foot, and try to actually make a horseโฆbecause when the screwworm gets western, things are liable to get real western right along with it. ๐
A horse that can circle in good ground is one thing. A horse that can stay sound, stay gentle, and doctor cattle for twelve hours in heat, mud, flies, and bad attitudes? Wellโฆthatโs an entirely different rรฉsumรฉ.
Now before folks start acting like the sky is falling, USDA successfully eradicated screwworm decades ago through aggressive containment and sterile fly release programs, and those same tools are already being prepared again. Could this become a bigger issue? Absolutely. Could they get ahead of it quickly? Also absolutely.
For now, it is simply something worth paying attention to.
๐ญ ๐ค๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฌ๐ผ๐
Had you ever even heard of New World Screwworm before this week, and for my ranchers and cowboysโฆwhat kind of horse do you think will still be standing if things get western? ๐
โ ๐๐ซ๐ซ๐จ๐ฐ ๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐จ.
๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ.
๐๐ค๐ช๐ง๐๐๐จ
โข Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), U.S. Department of Agriculture. โNew World Screwworm Prevention for Animals.โ Accessed June 4, 2026.
โข Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), U.S. Department of Agriculture. โUSDA Confirms Presence of New World Screwworm in the United States.โ June 3, 2026.
โข Reuters. โFlesh-Eating Screwworm Confirmed in Texas Calf as Parasite Crosses Border from Mexico.โ June 3, 2026.
โข Texas Animal Health Commission. โNew World Screwworms: Current Background, Pest Information, and Texas Situation.โ Accessed June 4, 2026.
โข Texas A&M AgriLife Extension. โTexas A&M AgriLife Responds After New World Screwworm Found in Texas.โ June 3, 2026.
โข Nebraska Public Media. โRanchers May Have to Re-Learn How to Fight an Old Enemy: The New World Screwworm.โ Accessed June 4, 2026.
