AI Insight
The New World screwworm, a flesh-eating parasite that once cost U.S. livestock producers $50-100 million annually in the Southwest during the 1950s, has returned to the United States after being eradicated and pushed south to Panama. The pest has now spread north again, with confirmed cases in Texas and New Mexico. A new tracking dashboard has been developed to monitor the risk posed by this parasite to livestock, wildlife, and humans.
Why it matters
The return of the New World screwworm threatens significant economic losses to the livestock industry and poses health risks to animals, wildlife, and people. The new tracking dashboard provides critical real-time monitoring capabilities to help manage and potentially contain the spread of this destructive parasite before it becomes widely re-established.
Understand the Science
In the 1950s, the New World screwworm cost U.S. livestock producers tens of millions of dollars a year, reaching $50 million to $100 million annually in the hardest-hit Southwest, before it was eradicated from the United States and pushed south to Panama. Now the flesh-eating pest has spread north again, reaching Texas and New Mexico and threatening livestock, wildlife and even people.
Source: As New World screwworm returns to the US, a new dashboard tracks the risk