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Among the many threats that move silently across borders, few are as devastating or as historically hard to control as New World Screwworm. It took a decade-long, coordinated, binational effort to eradicate screwworm from the U.S., and any lapse in vigilance unnecessarily risks the health of the domestic herd.
That’s why the sudden reopening — and just as sudden re-closure — of the U.S.Mexico border earlier this month was so alarming. Cattle producers know that the screwworm doesn’t respect border checkpoints. Its spread is tied to the movement of people, animals, and goods. Aside from our need to exponentially increase sterile fly production, we need a clear, sciencedriven biosecurity strategy, not a reactive border policy shaped by short-term political pressure.
Let’ be clear: closing the border in a crisis can be an appropriate tool. But reopening it without coordination, without updated surveillance, and without clear lines of inspection, puts every rancher in the southern U.S. at risk. This isn’t just a Texas issue—it’s a national livestock security issue.
But border closures are only one part of the solution. We also need:
• Ongoing screwworm surveillance, not just at the ports but deep into buffer zones in Mexico and along high-risk corridors
• Stronger interagency communication between USDA, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, state animal health commissions, and producer groups
• Continued and robust funding for sterile fly release programs
• A sterile fly production effort that will deliver a dramatic increase in sterile fly releases in weeks, not a year or two from now.
• Enhanced rapid-response protocols, so we can detect and report outbreaks before they spread.
Texas ranchers are willing to do our part and are preparing for the worms’ destructive presence. We’ve done it before, and we’re ready to work with national, state, and local authorities to do it again. But we need policy decisions that are consistent, transparent, and based on the advice of animal health professionals.
We can’t afford to play chicken with screwworm. One infected animal slipping through the cracks could set us back 50 years. The Federal Administration has been taking this crisis seriously and has already gone to great lengths to mitigate the situation, but it is near time for the kitchen sink.
