Flesh-eating parasite sparks disaster declaration in Texas

Texas will not get screwed by the flesh-eating parasite known as the screwworm — with Gov. Greg Abbott declaring a preemptive disaster declaration before the devastating organism even gets to the Lone Star State.

The New World Screwworm, a fly which can burrow into and feed on living tissue, has been steadily making its way north from Central and Southern America, officials said.

“State law authorizes me to act to prevent a threat of infestation that could cause severe damage to Texas property, and I will not wait for such harm to reach our livestock and wildlife,” Abbott said.

The blowflies primarily affect animals, experts said.

And while human cases are rare, they can be terrifying.

Doctors ended up surgically removing 100 to 150 screwworms from a cancer patient in Florida last year, after the man apparently contracted the bug during a week-long visit to the Dominican Republic.

There were so many larvae, the bugs clogged the hospital’s suction machine, the hospital said.

There have been more than a dozen cases of the screwworm in Tamaulipas, Mexico, a town just south of the Texas border, Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller confirmed in January. 

Miller urged ranchers to remain vigilant.

“Now is the time for Texas producers to stay sharp and be prepared… Early detection is our strongest weapon,” he said.

Abbott is also ordering state agencies to gear up before the parasite arrives, directing the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Texas Animal Health Commission to form a joint New World Screwworm Response Team.

A $750 million facility is already in the works to breed hundreds of millions of sterile screwworm flies — part of a proven strategy to stop the insects from reproducing.

The method, last used in the 1960s, involves releasing lab-raised sterile male flies to mate with wild females, preventing them from laying viable eggs, officials said.

The massive facility is slated to be built in Edinburg, just over the border.