Texas wasn’t adequately prepared for the return of the screwworm

State has a history with the parasite, so why the slow response this time?

By

Opinion

June 9, 2026 - 5:40 PM

A rancher arrives for a news conference with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins at the Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory in Kerrville, Texas, Monday, June 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

State Rep. Don McLaughlin of Uvalde released a statement on June 1 claiming that parasitic screwworms had almost breached the Texas-Mexico border. 

“This is not true,” a post on the USDA’s X account responded.

On June 3, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins confirmed that a sample taken from a three-week-old calf in Zavala County contained the damaging maggots.

Now, after a slow federal…

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