When a producer in Texas Hill Country needs to move livestock across a quarantine boundary, the first visitor to the ranch may be a member of Texas A&M’s Veterinary Emergency Team (VET).
Last weekend, VET personnel loaded into trucks and fanned out across the region, responding to inspection requests tied to the state’s New World screwworm response. Their job is to examine animals, answer questions and help ensure livestock can move safely and legally through an increasingly complex regulatory landscape.
It is not the kind of work most people associate with disaster response. Yet for the Texas A&M VET, adaptability has always been part of the mission.
“We didn’t want to just be a hurricane team. Texas does everything,” says Dr. Debra Zoran, director of VET.
That philosophy has guided VET through nearly two decades of service. Since its formation in 2009, the team has evolved from a hurricane-response concept into a statewide veterinary resource capable of responding to fires, floods, disease outbreaks and other emergencies.
Today, that flexibility is being put to work in support of Texas’ growing New World screwworm response.
From Hurricane Response to an All-Hazards Mission
The Texas A&M VET was created at the request of the state following Hurricane Ike. Like many emergency preparedness initiatives across the country, its roots can be traced back to lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina and the growing recognition that animal response capabilities were often overlooked during disasters.
In its early days, the team was envisioned largely as a hurricane response resource. That changed quickly.
The reality of responding in Texas meant preparing for far more than tropical storms. Wildfires, floods, tornadoes and disease outbreaks all present unique challenges, requiring different equipment, training and response strategies.
Over time, VET developed into a multidisciplinary response organization made up of veterinarians, technicians and veterinary students. The team now maintains mobile veterinary clinics, response vehicles and logistical support systems that allow personnel to operate independently when local infrastructure is damaged or unavailable.
The Wildfire That Changed Everything
The team’s first major deployment came in 2011 during the Bastrop wildfires, one of the most destructive wildfire events in Texas history. The experience reshaped the way VET approached preparedness.
“We had to become all hazards. We had to be ready at a moment’s notice, not with five days to get ready,” Zoran explains.
The deployment highlighted a simple reality about emergency response: Hurricanes tell you they’re coming. Nothing else does.
The lesson pushed the team to broaden its mission and prepare for any emergency, regardless of whether there was advance warning.
That shift has since guided more than 30 deployments, including responses to wildfires in California, hurricanes in Florida and North Carolina and large-scale fires in the Texas Panhandle.
Teaching the Next Generation of Responders
The Bastrop deployment produced another important realization.
Veterinary students accompanied team members into the field, exposing them to challenges that could never be fully replicated in a classroom. The experience eventually evolved into one of the most unique educational programs in veterinary medicine.
“We try to teach them how to be a veterinarian when the world is blowing up,” Zoran says.
Today, approximately 150 veterinary students rotate through the program each year. Students learn disaster preparedness, emergency triage, community evacuation planning and animal sheltering strategies. They also participate in simulated disaster scenarios designed to teach decision-making when traditional veterinary infrastructure is unavailable.
For VET leaders, preparing future veterinarians to respond during emergencies is just as important as responding to disasters themselves.
Responding to Texas’ New World Screwworm Threat
The team’s current deployment looks very different from many of its previous missions.
“It’s not our thing. It’s not our jam,” Zoran says. “But it is our jam from the perspective that we are part of the state.”
The response is being led by USDA and the Texas Animal Health Commission, but officials needed additional personnel to help manage a growing number of inspection requests in the Texas Hill Country. As movement restrictions and surveillance efforts increased, producers needed animals inspected before they could be transported to sales, events, veterinary facilities or locations outside quarantine zones.
“They didn’t have enough people to be able to handle all of the calls for inspections,” Zoran explains. “We are basically more eyes and more help for the state to try to manage that.”
Rather than replacing local veterinarians, VET personnel are helping expand inspection capacity while additional certified inspectors are trained and brought online.
More Eyes in the Field
While the current deployment may not resemble a traditional disaster response, the underlying mission remains the same: provide support wherever the state needs it most.
“We are definitely in the game to help in any way that we can,” Zoran says.
For now, that means serving as a temporary bridge until more inspection resources become available. The role may be different from treating injured animals after a wildfire or supporting communities after a hurricane, but it reflects the same preparedness mindset that has defined the team for nearly two decades.
Whether the threat comes from fire, flood or an invasive livestock pest, the goal remains helping communities respond quickly and effectively.
It Will Take All of Us
As Texas works to contain and monitor New World screwworm, Zoran believes success will depend on cooperation among agencies, veterinarians, producers and communities.
“Texans help their neighbors and they always have,” she says proudly.
That spirit has been on display throughout the Hill Country, where local residents, producers and organizations have welcomed response personnel and participated in public meetings focused on surveillance and prevention.
For Zoran, those efforts will be critical in the months ahead.
“This is not anywhere near done,” she says. “This is an all-hands-on-deck kind of thing.”
For nearly 17 years, the VET has prepared for emergencies most people hope never happen. These emergencies require different responses, but each requires the same foundation: trained people ready to step forward when communities need help.
That preparation is why a team created in the wake of Hurricane Ike now finds itself helping Texas respond to New World screwworm. The threat may be different, but the mission remains the same: provide expertise, build capacity and support the people on the front lines until the next phase of the response is ready to take over.
As Texas works to contain and monitor screwworm, Zoran believes no single agency, organizations or group of veterinarians can do it alone.
“It’s going to take all of us.”
