00:02For the first time in decades, inspectors have detected a flesh-eating parasite in American
00:08livestock. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins says experts have found New World screwworm larvae
00:15in a calf in South Texas, marking the first confirmed U.S. case in decades.
00:21While officials stress there is no risk to food safety, they warn the parasite can cause
00:26serious damage to cattle, other livestock, and wildlife. The screwworm was eradicated from the
00:32United States in the 1970s after causing major losses for ranchers and the livestock industry.
00:38Rollins and other agriculture officials have been sounding the alarm about the fly's movement
00:43across Mexico toward the U.S. for more than a year. And we all, as you know, have been talking
00:48and
00:49tracking and working around the clock to contain it, but we have not, Mexico, with the illicit
00:56movement of cattle and not having enough sterile flies certainly has led us to today, June 3rd,
01:032026, the U.S. confirming its first New World screwworm case in the state of Texas since 1966.
01:11To prevent any further spread, the USDA has established a 12-mile quarantine zone around
01:17the detection site and restricted the movement of warm-blooded animals in the area unless they
01:23are inspected. Rollins says no other cases have been detected in the country, but federal and state
01:28officials are now increasing surveillance in South Texas.
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