A flesh-eating worm that ripped through Central America and Mexico over the past three years was detected in June in the southern United States, threatening America’s cattle heartland and setting the stage for a costly eradication effort. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported over two dozen cases of New World Screwworm (Cochliomyia hominivorax) in Texas and New Mexico in the first three weeks of June. The infestations ended a 60-year period during which the United States was mostly clear of the pest and prompted calls for a faster, more innovative government response. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins in June called the pest “a serious threat to our wildlife and our livestock,” but dismissed accusations by local agriculture officials and politicians that the government had been slow to act. “We were not caught off guard,” said Rollins at a press conference in Kerrville, Texas on June... [Log in to read more]