The New World screwworm (NWS) fly has been detected in south Texas, the US's largest cattle-producing state, the country's Department of Agriculture confirmed on Wednesday.
The screwworm is a species of parasitic fly that completes part of its lifecycle by feeding on the tissue and flesh of warm-blooded animals and humans.
The female fly lays eggs in open wounds or mucous membranes, where they then hatch into larvae that eat the flesh around them.
The case was detected in a three-week-old calf in LaPryor, Texas, approximately 80 kilometres from the US border with Mexico, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins confirmed. It is the first case in the region since 1966.
Rollins said there have been no other reported discoveries of the fly in the country, and officials stressed that, while the fly’s larvae pose a threat to livestock, they do not infest food. With proper treatment, even the infested calf should recover.
