Screw worm confirmed

[Shank3r]

Are there now restrictions on moving cattle in Texas? I assume that there are or will be at least in some counties.

In some areas yes, there’s already a process of inspecting & moving livestock where restrictions are in place. We call those guys “Tick Riders”; they work for the USDA and already imbedded with the ranches in their assigned territory. Sale Barn managers are also going to be very discriminatory on what cattle they allow in from where as they don’t want NWS in their facilities.

 

[Hpacres440p]

Oops-already been said

 

[Brute 23]

The fear mongering from people trying to boost their social media views is going to be insane is what I meant.

I’ve heard of that type of fly in & fly out big ranch owners, the big Jim Hogg county ranch my Dad ran for a few decades had owners that were very much in the know on everything in a good way and integrated within Hebbronville and supporting businesses unlike some of the ones that Garrett with Hebbronville Machine Shop recently blasted in a podcast he was interviewed in.

My whole FB feed is nothing but NWS doomer talk. I see that a few counties are declaring emergencies and citing a lack of federal action as they promised.

You are right about the social media talking figures.

You are right about that ranch also. They host president's and a long list of politicians and celebrities and more.

We are 90 days from people all over the country, even world, traveling to and from STX for the 6 months straight. Hell right now people shoot hogs, cut their heads off, leave it sitting for a day before they haul it back to the house 2, 3, 4 hours away to euro it. Thats all it takes.

 

[Lucky]

What about the deer population? Really any wild game.

 

[Shank3r]

What about the deer population? Really any wild game.

From what I remember the old timers saying, 40-80% mortality rate on newborn fawns and you could sit in a blind for 14 hours near a feeder that feeds year-round and MAYBE see a deer or three.

And they didn’t have near the feral hog population then as we do now.

 

[Brute 23]

That was a good interview with Garrett. Very interesting story.

 

[Lucky]

From what I remember the old timers saying, 40-80% mortality rate on newborn fawns and you could sit in a blind for 14 hours near a feeder that feeds year-round and MAYBE see a deer or three.

And they didn’t have near the feral hog population then as we do now.

That's good to know. The cattle guys raising a stink doesn't seem to get much traction but I bet the hunting industry getting cut by 2/3's will get a ball rolling.

 

[Shank3r]

And a second case 5.6 miles from the first confirmed per the @Screwworm_RR USDA Rapid Response team X account.

 

[Brute 23]

And a second case 5.6 miles from the first confirmed per the @Screwworm_RR USDA Rapid Response team X account.

People have no clue. They are just now seeing reported cases, they havent seen the un-reported ones.

We were in the feed store today and some one brought it up. Several of the men were just brushing it off and kept saying we are a long ways from the border and we don't run cows "down there". Just over and over with "down there".

Finally I said... West... not down... West. Less than 3 hrs west is where it was at. They got quiet. Then I said, I started here Saturday at 5am, was in Brenham by 8, ate lunch, made it to Starr Co on the river, and laid my head down in Jim Hogg that night. I was there for 48hrs and came back home. Thats how fast it can spread. That ended the party and they kind of dispersed.

Two of the ladies in the feed store who both ranch all over made the comment that people don't realize whats going on yet.

 

[Brute 23]

They also don't realize all those cattle from "down there" get sold up here. My buddy ships all their cattle off the river at Laredo to Cuero. From Cuero they go north again.

 

[TexasJerseyMilker]

From the Family Cow message board.
It had been pushed down to below the Darien Gap between Panama and Colombia. The DG is an inhospitable rough terrain that is very dangerous from a terrain and social standpoint. The fly center in Panama has been breeding and dispersing sterile flies all this time and that has succeeded until recently to keep them out of Central America. Recent social upheavals have contributed to animals coming through the Gap into Panama with NWS infections. It thrives in warm climates and has slowly worked its way north to where we are today.
........................................

I looked up this social upheaval in Columbia. It's easy to see how screw worm fly population exploded. Looks like they are fighting over control of Columbia's major export product. Search assist In 2025, the FARC dissidents were involved in ongoing violent clashes with the National Liberation Army (ELN) in Colombia, particularly in the Catatumbo region, leading to significant casualties and displacement of civilians. The violence is part of a broader struggle for control over territories critical to illegal economies, including drug trafficking. ................ The National Liberation Army (ELN) is a far-left guerrilla group in Colombia, founded in 1964, that has been involved in the Colombian conflict and is known for its Marxist-Leninist ideology. It engages in various criminal activities, including extortion and drug trafficking, and is designated as a terrorist organization by several countries, including the United States and the European Union. I'm a Texan although I now live in Oregon. My husband was a rancher there. He says the early 70's he had USDA special screw worm tests of wounds he could send in. Generations past on the ranch they had to deal with screw worm. There is a map of the containment area. www.agdaily.com/livestock/usda-rolls-out-new-world-screwworm-response-playbook/

 

[Double R Ranch]

I've seen countless ranchers commenting saying they won't report any cases they find. I think there is fear that this will turn into a quarantine and euthanasia situation like bird flu ended up being.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

I've seen countless alleged ranchers commenting saying they won't report any cases they find.

And people will continue to move livestock/animals/wildlife regardless of any sort of quarantines/restrictions and before you know it cases will appear 100's of miles away seemingly overnight.

 

[Lucky]

I've seen countless alleged ranchers commenting saying they won't report any cases they find.

I wonder what good reporting would do other than to spark fear and let the officials know more of your business? I can see telling your neighbors but I can't think of 1 time letting the government in helped me out. It's not like they didn't know the screw worm was coming.

We've had a really really bad buzzard problem for years so I tried to get some help this year and do things the right way. Something as simple as a buzzard problem turned into a mess for us when the government got involved.

 

[TexasJerseyMilker]

Even if the whole state of Texas got quarantined for live cattle there are still major packing plants in the Panhandle.

 

[Brute 23]

I wonder what good reporting would do other than to spark fear and let the officials know more of your business? I can see telling your neighbors but I can't think of 1 time letting the government in helped me out. It's not like they didn't know the screw worm was coming.

We've had a really really bad buzzard problem for years so I tried to get some help this year and do things the right way. Something as simple as a buzzard problem turned into a mess for us when the government got involved.

We had a vet out helping us one time and he pulled a tick off and put it in a container. I asked what he was doing. He said.. we send them off to be tested. I told him that I did not give him permission to take any thing from our property. He kind of made a smart ass comment back and I told him he will chunk it or I will. He did. He pouted the rest of the time. I didnt care for him any ways and that just confirmed it.

I didnt think that was right at all. Its one thing when they are in your facility, I am at your mercy likely, but don't be sneaking samples of any thing off my property. I know how that deal goes.

 

[Brute 23]

And people will continue to move livestock/animals/wildlife regardless of any sort of quarantines/restrictions and before you know it cases will appear 100's of miles away seemingly overnight.

You are exactly right. The reason they originally pushed it so far down is because there is no border. You can not trust any thing to stay on one side or the other, both intentionally and unintentionally.

 

[OBAX]

It’s obvious reading the comments that producers are our own worst enemies when it comes to screwworms.
Listen, hiding it and trying to go it yourself will do nothing but make the problems worse and faster spreading.
We do, as a matter of fact, have an ag secretary that is familiar with cattle and ranching. She is doing everything she can to explain the urgency of the situation to her colleagues that are less knowledgeable, and implementing solutions any way possible. The outgoing Texas ag commissioner made the comment that the techniques are old and out dated. That’s like saying your septic system at your house is old and outdated and you have to find a new way to get the turd to the tank. The pipe works and always has and is still the best way.
And for him to say, on a public platform, that cases should not be reported is asinine.
It is best. No matter your conspiracy theories, to report any case that you have or see and let the animal health experts help rein this in before it becomes rampant. Keep in mind, this is not an infectious disease. So any “quarantine “ you may be subject to will only be an inspection requirement. You are not about to start digging holes!
Stay informed with factual information is the main thing. And the best thing you can put on your cattle, is your eyes!

 

[Dave]

Cattle get moved a lot and much farther than they use to go 50 years ago. I was at a workshop a few years back they had map of the USA it showed how far and fast an infectious disease could spread. While not a disease cattle movement can and will spread it.
A good example of cattle movement. A man I know buys light calves here in Oregon and Idaho in the fall. Mid winter they get shipped to pasture in southern California. Then in about May those pastures dry up and those calves get on a truck and go to Wyoming. When the grass runs out in Wyoming they load up and go to a feedlot (Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Colorado?). Those calves would move things a long way if they picked something up along the way.

 

[simme]

Yeah, I don't understand some of these comments. Comparing screw worm situation to bird flu and thinking that cattle may be euthanized. Bird flu is a virus. A bird infected with a virus is shedding/spreading the virus. The virus multiplies in the bird. A cow with screw worm maggots is not the same risk. The maggots are pretty easy to kill with treatment. They are not multiplying in the cow. The cow is just the host of a parasite. When screw worms were common years ago, did the government euthanize cattle? I think they killed the maggots in the cow. Sort of like deworming cows that have parasitic worms? People generally don't shot cows that need deworming. Foot and mouth disease (a virus) is a situation where euthanizing is a thing.

Looking for and reporting the screw worms and adjusting the dispersal locations of the sterile flies is the way to address the problem. That is a task for the government that needs our cooperation. Does anyone think that individual ranchers acting on their own will eliminate the screw worms? That idea will ensure that screwworms will spread and become a permanent thing to live with same as back in the old days. Putting your head in the sand and keeping quiet will not make the problem go away. A person with their head in the sand is still very exposed everywhere else. That exposure is a good target for the screwworm.

Compare to the cotton boll weevil traps and monitoring program. Screw worm eradication does not have much downside for the producer.