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USDA confirms second screwworm case in Texas

By Cassandra Garrison and Heather Schlitz Reuters

Updated June 5, 2026 8:32 PM

A cow reacts, a day after the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed that New World screwworm was detected in a Texas calf, near Crystal City, Texas, U.S., June 4, 2026. REUTERS/Kaylee Greenlee — A cow reacts, a day after the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed that New World screwworm was detected in a Texas calf, near Crystal City, Texas, U.S., June 4, 2026. REUTERS/Kaylee Greenlee Kaylee Greenlee Reuters

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LA PRYOR, Texas - A second case of the flesh-eating screwworm parasite was confirmed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Texas on Friday, just miles from where the first case in the U.S. in decades was detected this week.

The case was detected in Zavala County on a ranch 5.6 miles (9 km) from the first positive case of screwworm in Texas, which the USDA confirmed on Wednesday.

Reuters reported the second confirmed case earlier on Friday citing sources. The USDA later said the infection was in a one-month-old calf.

Rear Admiral Michael Schmoyer, associate administrator for USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, had said earlier on Friday in a press conference that there was only one infested animal.

The second case follows an initial detection nearby in La Pryor, a town roughly 30 miles (48 km) northeast of the U.S.-Mexico border, dealing a setback to U.S. cattle ranchers who have been preparing for the arrival of the pest as it has moved north through Mexico over the past year.

Screwworms are parasitic flies that deposit eggs in open wounds or mucous membranes of warm-blooded animals. After hatching, the larvae penetrate living tissue, feeding on the host and potentially causing fatal damage if not treated.

(Reporting by Cassandra Garrison in Mexico City and Heather Schlitz in La Pryor, Texas; additional reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

Cows lie in a pasture, a day after the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed that New World screwworm was detected in a Texas calf, in La Pryor, Texas, U.S. June 4, 2026. REUTERS/Kaylee Greenlee — Cows lie in a pasture, a day after the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed that New World screwworm was detected in a Texas calf, in La Pryor, Texas, U.S. June 4, 2026. REUTERS/Kaylee Greenlee Kaylee Greenlee Reuters

Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect

This story was originally published June 5, 2026 at 8:20 PM.