Refusing to let his state get destroyed by a new dire threat, Governor Greg Abbott has formed a response team to defend Texas.
Specifically, the governor has moved to create a firewall against a flesh-eating parasite surging from Mexico toward the border.
Eradicated from the U.S. decades ago, the New World screwworm now poses a threat to the state’s $15 billion cattle industry and wildlife.
Abbott has directed state agencies to create the Texas New World Screwworm Response Team to combat the invasive parasite.
This parasitic fly, whose larvae feed on living flesh, was eliminated from the United States in the 1960s.
It is now spreading northward from Mexico, putting Texas livestock, wildlife, and even humans at risk.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has already suspended imports of live cattle, horses, and bison through southern ports to prevent the spread of the parasite.
This emergency measure underscores the severity of the threat, as officials scramble to contain a problem brewing in America’s southern neighbor.
“It’s a fly larva that eats living flesh. It’s kind of something out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie almost,” Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller explained, underscoring the gruesome nature of the threat facing Texas ranchers and farmers.
The Texas Animal Health Commission and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department will coordinate the response team’s efforts.
Gov. Greg Abbott directs Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and Texas Animal Health Commission to establish a Texas New World screwworm response team. pic.twitter.com/NvR90BVT0h
— Texas Wildlife Assoc (@texaswildlife) June 25, 2025
As a critical line of defense, the team will deploy pheromone traps along the border and advise ranchers to monitor their livestock closely for signs of infestation.
Long-term control of the parasite requires the production of sterile flies to disrupt breeding, but current production capacity falls woefully short.
To address this gap, Texas leaders have proposed building a sterile fly production facility in the state.
The federal government plans to invest $8.5 million in a dispersal site at Moore Air Base in Edinburg and $20 million in a facility in Mexico.
“As a border state, Texas represents the first line of defense against the potential re-entry of this harmful pest into the United States,” Abbott stated.
He emphasized the state’s crucial role in protecting not just Texas but the entire nation from this biological threat.
The stakes could not be higher for Texas’s economy and wildlife. Congressman Tony Gonzales put it bluntly: “Very soon, people are going to know what a screwworm is because they can’t barbecue on the weekends.”
This vivid warning underscores how this crisis could soon affect everyday Americans if not contained.
Abbott’s decisive action demonstrates once again how Texas continues to take the lead in addressing border-related threats.
With plans to release sterilized screwworms over Mexico by planes to prevent their spread to the U.S., Texas is showing critical practical problem-solving.
