This week, Drovers’ Angie Stump Denton and the AgDay team have boots on the ground in South Texas, chronicling the resilience of cattle producers and the industrywide effort to contain New World screwworm. Follow along for the stories of those most impacted, market reaction and the critical steps being taken to safeguard the U.S. livestock industry.
UVALDE, Texas — The word “quarantine” is doing almost as much damage as the fly. Across South Texas ranch country, producers inside confirmed New World screwworm zones are hesitating to report suspicious animals, holding off on planned movements and in some cases waiting to see what happens to their neighbors before they act.
T.R. Lansford III, Texas Animal Health Commission deputy executive director and assistant state veterinarian, says hesitation is exactly what turns a manageable outbreak into a catastrophe. Lansford — whose family has a cattle ranch in LaSalle County, currently inside an adjacent surveillance zone — answers the questions producers are actually asking and addresses the fears that, left unspoken, are making the fight against NWS harder than it needs to be.
Q: Let’s start with the word everybody is afraid of. What does “quarantine” actually mean for a producer inside one of these zones?
Lansford: Everybody worries about the quarantine word, and I understand that, but what it really means is movement restrictions. It’s the legal term we use in our regulations to define what happens inside a confirmed infested zone. It does not mean no movement. It means there are extra steps — some inspections, some treatments, some identification and a permit — to get out of that zone. The whole point is to prevent inadvertently moving an infested animal into an uninfested area. That’s it.
What is the single most important thing a producer in an infested zone should be doing right now?
Eyes on animals; I cannot say that enough. The most important thing we can put on animals when there are screwworms in the area is eyes. You have to look at these animals, and you have to do it frequently — every day if you can, every other day at a minimum. Three days is the outer limit before an early infestation you missed on the last check has already cycled flies back into the environment. That’s the piece that matters most.
What exactly are you looking for when an inspector is checking animals?
Same things you’d look for with anything else that makes an animal sick. She may be standing off by herself. She may not want to move. She may be laid up in the brush or near water. If there’s a heavy infestation and you’re downwind, you’re going to smell it before you see it; that’s really the hallmark on that side of things. Head shaking can also be a sign, because it’s not impossible for screwworms to get into an ear canal or the sinuses if there’s an injury there. Any abnormal behavior in an infested area is worth investigating up close.
Which animals are you most worried about right now?
Without question, newborns. Any newborn animal — calf, fawn, lamb, kid — has essentially a 100% chance of becoming infested if there are flies in the area. The umbilicus is the preferred infestation site. That hasn’t changed from what producers dealt with in the 1960s. After that, I’m thinking about any animal with an induced wound — castration, dehorning, branding, ear notching. Those fresh wounds are exactly what the fly is looking for. And then foot injuries in adult animals, especially in rocky or thorny country where they’re getting cuts around their hooves.
Producers are scared to report. Walk me through what actually happens if I call and report a suspicious wound.
I completely understand that fear, and I want to address it directly because it’s one of the things that concerns me most about this response. When you report a suspicious animal, we come out, we help evaluate, we’ll help treat that animal if you want us to and we start working through whether there have been any movements. Yes, right away there will be a hold order placed on your premises while we get a lab confirmation. That is a regulatory requirement. But if it comes back negative, that hold is released. If it’s positive, the hold transitions to a formal quarantine — but practically speaking for you as a producer, the effect is the same either way while we’re working through it.
What your report does that nothing else can do is get sterile flies deployed to your area. We can have ground release chambers in place within 24 hours of a confirmed case. Those flies are the primary tool we have to suppress the local fly population. If we don’t get that report, those flies don’t go out. The population builds. The zone expands. And at some point we outgrow the area that we have sterile flies for. So please, report.
Why do I need a veterinarian, and why does it have to happen now rather than when I actually have a problem?
Because when you have a problem, it’s too late to be establishing that relationship for the first time. A number of the products that are approved right now — either conditionally or through emergency use authorization — require a veterinary prescription. Some of the over-the-counter products that are fully approved can be used in an extra-label manner for screwworms, but that has to be done under a veterinary-client-patient relationship. On top of that, if an animal has been dealing with an infestation for any length of time, that wound may need antibiotics for secondary bacterial infections, and that requires a prescription too. Go get that relationship established today.
What does it actually take to move animals out of the infested zone? Walk me through the steps.
There are four things. First, an inspection: We go through your animals, and anything with an obvious wound or infestation gets pulled out and treated before it goes anywhere. Second, prophylactic treatment for the animals that are moving: We administer something to catch anything that might be in an early stage we couldn’t see. Third, some form of animal identification, which we can work through depending on where those animals are going. And fourth, a movement permit. That permit is valid for five days from the date of inspection.
The order matters. Pull the animals in, do the inspection, pull out anything that’s obviously infested, administer the prophylaxis, deal with the wounded animals, then call us for the inspection sign-off. Once that’s done and the treatment has had time to reach effective tissue levels, you’re cleared to move.
What’s the minimum lead time I need if I want to move animals on a specific date?
Five days, at an absolute minimum. If you want to move on the 15th, you need to be working on that right now. Call the inspection number for your zone today, get your veterinarian involved if you need a prescription product, get your animals gathered and start working through the process. The five-day window is based on the fly life cycle — that’s how long it takes to know that anything that might have been missed in the inspection has either shown itself or has been covered by the treatment. Don’t wait until the day before you need to move.
Once my animals have met those requirements and I have a permit, where can I take them?
Anywhere. If you’ve met the requirements to move out of the zone, you’ve met the requirements, full stop. Sale barn, feedyard, another premises, out of state with a veterinarian and proper certificates — it doesn’t matter. Those animals have been inspected and treated. They are not restricted. They’re not worth less. In fact, I’d argue they’re among the best-documented animals moving in Texas right now, because they’ve been looked at and treated in a way most cattle outside a zone haven’t been.
What do you want producers to understand that they’re maybe not hearing clearly enough right now?
A few things. First, NWS is not a food safety issue. It’s not going to be in your beef. A treated, recovered animal is perfectly fine. Second, this is not a swarm. The fly is reclusive; it hides in vegetation, it doesn’t come into barns or houses, and the odds of actually seeing one in your environment are very low. The calls we need are about wounds with maggots, not flies on a fence post.
Third, and this is the one I want people to really hear: NWS is treatable and it is preventable. Find it early, treat it and you’ve not only helped that animal, you’ve broken the fly cycle. That’s what protects your neighbor. That’s what protects trade. That’s what keeps this from becoming something much larger than it needs to be. We are all in this together, and the relationships and the communication between producers and our agency right now are absolutely critical. If there are problems, we need to talk about it. Call us.
For current zone maps, movement requirements and contact information, visit screwworm.gov or tahc.texas.gov, where you can enter your address to determine exactly which zone you are in and what applies to your operation.
