(NAFB.com) – Colin Woodall, CEO of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, says the screwworm, a parasitic pest, is likely to cross the southern border of the United States later this summer. It’s no longer a question of whether we see a return of New World screwworms in the U.S., it’s a matter of when, Woodall said, probably sometime later this summer. The screwworm females lay eggs near open wounds, any kind of wound in cattle, and the eggs hatch into larvae, which are maggots that burrow into the wound and feed on living tissue. He said the only cure is to sterilize the male screwworm flies, which they do in a factory in Mexico. When the female screwworm lays her eggs once, she dies, but the male screwworm lives on. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told the House Ag Committee last week that she will make a major announcement soon concerning the next preventative steps.
