Oh Good, We’ve Reached The ‘Flesh-Eating Screwworm’ Stage Of The Trump Administration New World Screwworms, a type of flesh-eating fly, have reappeared in Texas, marking the first case since the 1960s. This outbreak follows a dispute between Texas state Rep. Don McLaughlin and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins regarding the proximity of the flies to the border. The article suggests that cuts to the USDA and USAID, including funding for programs that monitored and contained such pests, may have contributed to the re-emergence.

• New World Screwworms have been confirmed in a calf in Texas, the first case since eradication in the 1960s.
• A public disagreement occurred between Texas state Rep. Don McLaughlin and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins about the screwworms’ location relative to the border.
• The article links the potential contributing factors for the screwworm’s return to budget cuts made by the Trump administration to agencies like USAID, which funded pest monitoring programs.
• Previous efforts to eradicate screwworms involved releasing sterile, factory-bred flies to mate with wild populations, leading to no offspring.
• A past screwworm case in a human involved an individual who had traveled from El Salvador.