Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Animal Health Disease Response topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
TAHC details intensified New World screwworm response and disease updates; Texas dairy testing restored to 'unaffected' status
Summary
At its 428th meeting the Texas Animal Health Commission reviewed an expanded USDA-led screwworm surveillance and sterile-fly release effort, updates on cattle fever tick research and high-path avian influenza (HPAI) testing; Texas was reported by USDA as "unaffected" for dairy milk testing as of March 27, 2026.
The Texas Animal Health Commission heard an extended briefing on animal disease threats and response operations, with emphasis on New World screwworm surveillance, sterile‑fly dispersal plans and coordinated federal‑state actions.
Executive Director Dr. Davis told commissioners that Mexico’s recent surge in New World screwworm detections has driven expanded U.S. surveillance and response. "Senica reports that there were 24,047 total cases of new world screwworms with 179 of those considered to be active in Mexico," he said, and described adjustments to USDA dispersal polygons and additional ground‑release chambers and vehicles deployed along the Rio Grande in South Texas. USDA has also begun using Moore Air Base as a domestic dispersal site and has awarded a contract to build a domestic production facility slated to begin limited operation in November 2027, initially producing 100 million sterile flies with a planned ramp to 300 million annually.
State staff described Texas’s role in trap placement, servicing and landowner agreements for surveillance lines in Brooks, Kennedy, Webb, Zapata, Jim Hogg, Starr and Cameron counties, and said Texas inspectors will manage portions of the expanded trap network. The commission also announced the addition of a state entomologist, Dr. Nicole Renee Holmes, to bolster ectoparasite identification and response capacity.
The commission heard updates on complementary response tools. Dr. Davis outlined prenamectin field trials to control cattle fever ticks and a related residue study at Texas A&M intended to define withdrawal recommendations for repeated dosing; the study is expected to run a minimum of 280 days with 25 animals enrolled. He also summarized recent federal emergency authorizations: the Food and Drug Administration issued conditional authorizations for an F10 antiseptic wound spray and barrier ointment with insecticide, and USDA issued an emergency use authorization for a powdered formulation of coumaphos (used for dipping). The Environmental Protection Agency issued an emergency exemption for a related insecticide produced abroad; procurement and distribution plans call for those products to flow through the National Veterinary Stockpile to state and federal partners.
Commissioners and staff placed the screwworm work in the larger context of ongoing foreign‑animal disease preparedness. Dr. Monty, who presented epidemiology and disease surveillance figures, said Texas is participating in USDA’s national milk testing strategy and that USDA has changed Texas’s HPAI dairy status to "unaffected" as of March 27, 2026, removing testing requirements for Texas‑origin lactating dairy cattle before interstate movement. "We started the national milk testing strategy April 7th of 2025," he said, and reported that the state has submitted more than 1,300 silo samples under the program.
Other disease programs were also reviewed. Officials reported continued work on bovine tuberculosis traces and assurance testing in several regions, chronic wasting disease surveillance in captive and free‑range cervids, and a modest number of pseudorabies responses in swine. USDA APHIS further briefed the commission on federal support and personnel shifts; Patricia Collins, APHIS area veterinarian in charge, said APHIS had added field hires and created a screworm preparedness-and-action coordinator position to link surveillance and potential response.
Why it matters: New World screwworm is an exotic, economically significant pest of livestock; the combination of cross‑border detections in Mexico, sterile‑insect releases, expanded trap lines and emergency availability of treatment and insecticide products signals an elevated readiness posture for South Texas livestock producers and state animal health officials.
Looking ahead: The commission and USDA plan continued weekly coordination calls, ongoing trap and surveillance adjustments as dispersal polygons are revised, and tabletop and continuity‑of‑business exercises with neighboring states and livestock market stakeholders. The domestic sterile‑fly production facility remains scheduled for initial operation in late 2027.
