Screwworm Infestation Expands From Texas to New Mexico

The Trump administration has emphasized that the New World screwworm infection found in a calf in Texas does not pose a threat to the US’ larger cattle herd, which is at its lowest point in 75 years due to drought.

According to reporting cited in the text, DOGE—under the leadership of Trump megadonor Elon Musk—cut screwworm monitoring and animal disease prevention programs.

However, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) says cases of the parasite have now been found outside the Texas containment zone and as far away as New Mexico, Julia Conley reported for AlterNet.

GOP officials have tried to blame the Biden administration for the outbreak, but Democrats said screwworm — a flesh-eating parasite that feeds off warm-blooded animals and was eradicated in the US in 1966 — reappeared after President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) targeted screwworm monitoring programs for cuts.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins doubled down on claims that an “open border policy” under the Biden administration was to blame.

However, David Dayen at The American Prospect noted that former President Biden banned bison, horse, and cattle imports from Mexico in 2024, a restriction Trump lifted in February 2025.

According to reporting cited in the text, DOGE—under the leadership of Trump megadonor Elon Musk—cut screwworm monitoring and animal disease prevention programs, including the elimination of 1,300 employees from USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

A $600-million facility for breeding sterile screwworm flies is expected to be completed next year.

Sterile flies released from a facility opened in February at Moore Air Force Base in South Texas currently represent only a fraction of what experts say is needed to eradicate the pest.