Texas committee hears plans for sterile‑fly production, bait and medicated feed as screw worm spreads in Mexico

A Texas legislative committee heard detailed briefings Tuesday on preparations for the New World screwworm after federal and state officials announced new response tools and funding.

“It's a threat to our $30,000,000,000 livestock industry here in our state,” Commissioner Sid Miller, Texas Department of Agriculture, told the Committee on Agriculture & Livestock as he described biosecurity steps, bait trials and requests for additional state support. Miller urged the legislature to allow a roughly $1 million biosecurity balance to roll forward so his team can buy traps, test kits and bait.

The hearing outlined three parallel approaches being advanced: (1) large‑scale sterile‑fly production, (2) chemical baits and traps to quickly reduce fly populations, and (3) expanded use of animal drugs — including feed‑through ivermectin/doramectin formulations in targeted zones — while surveillance and containment proceed.

Why it matters: Screwworm larvae feed on living tissue and can kill livestock and wildlife if infestations are not found and treated quickly. Witnesses said the pest is spreading in Mexico, has caused human infections there and has already disrupted markets; speakers warned that delays in building capacity or deploying treatments would raise the risk of an expensive and fast‑moving outbreak inside Texas.

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Dr. Louis Bud Dingus, executive director of the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC), said Mexican authorities and USDA announced major measures in recent weeks: USDA is supporting conversion of a facility in Matapa, Mexico with $21 million and Secretary Brooke Rollins announced a separate $750 million investment to build a sterile‑fly production and dispersal facility near Edinburg, Texas. Dingus summarized Mexican case counts and surveillance: “As of August 9 ... there are 4,684 accumulated cases of new world screwworms” and “as of August 5,…