TEXAS — Twelve screwworm infections have been confirmed in livestock and a dog across Texas and New Mexico. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that 11 of these cases remain active.

The first confirmed case was detected in a calf in south Texas on June 3. A confirmed screwworm case was reported in a sheep in Sutton County, west Texas, on June 12. Additional infections were identified in Edwards, Tom Green, Gillespie, La Salle, and Zavala counties in Texas, and in Lea County, New Mexico.

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said, "This should set off alarm bells across the country. Every day we delay gives this pest another opportunity to spread." Miller has requested the deployment of the Screwworm Adult Suppression System, a department program that uses targeted bait to kill fertile adult screwworm flies.

Miller said, "You don’t win this battle with one tool, you kill fertile flies with Swass while overwhelming the remaining population with sterile flies. That’s how we built the biological barrier that protected American agriculture for decades. That’s the strategy we should be using today." U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said, "The government has released 4 million sterile flies on the ground, as well as 4 million sterile flies in the air to help combat the outbreak."

The screwworm parasite was largely eradicated in the U.S. in the 1970s. The department advised animal owners to monitor livestock for draining or enlarging wounds, maggots, egg masses, discomfort, and lesions around the nose, ears, genitals, or umbilical area. It also directed that suspected infections be reported immediately. It stated that the domestic food supply remains unaffected because the parasite does not infest meat, fruits, vegetables, or other agricultural products.