Las Cruces and other southern New Mexico communities are now in ‘infested zones’ after new cases of screwworm were discovered.
New Mexico officials have announced two cases of screwworm in Doña Ana county after a sheep on the New Mexico State University campus and a cow at an off-campus location were found to be infected by the flesh eating larvae.
Because of these recent discoveries, much of the southern part of the county has been placed in an infested zone. While this classification does not place any restrictions on residents, animals may have to be inspected if they move within or out of the area.
State Veterinarian Dr. Samantha Holeck with the New Mexico Livestock Board said these cases are not that surprising considering recent conditions and that we are probably going to be seeing cases like this over the next couple of years.
“Part of it is just that the weather conditions right now in the southern part of the state are absolutely ideal for this parasite. We have had a lot of rain in the last few weeks, the temperatures have been very mild and right in the ideal temperature range for the fly. The northward progression of cases from Mexico has been bringing that fly closer and closer to the border everyday, Dr. Holeck said.
One common misconception with screwworm is that it is contagious and can be passed from animal to animal. Dr. Holeck said that this is not true but animal owners, including owners of dogs and cats, should be aware of signs like a change in the animals behavior, wounds that only get worse, and maggots. With proper action, animals can survive.
“An individual case, it's not like an infectious disease thankfully, so that individual animal that is affected is more of a sentinel for us to know that the fly is in the area. That animal can be treated and often can survive. The animal that have had to be euthanized so far, it wasn't because of the infestation directly, it was because of other factors so either the severity of an injury or cancer or something else that resulted in that animal having to be euthanized,” Dr. Holeck said.
Larry Reagan, president of the New Mexico Farm and Livestock Bureau, said that cattle ranchers like him face additional challenges with new cases.
“We got to spend more time with our cattle. On the larger ranches that are along the border where the screwworms have been found, the have huge pastures and it is difficult for them to see their cattle as often and so it will require a lot more time. They may have to hire more help just to ride and look for screwworm infections,” Reagan said.
As part of efforts to stop the screwworm, state and federal bodies have increased surveillance and have set up fly traps on the NMSU campus.
KRWG Public Media reached out to NMSU for comment but was directed to the New Mexico Department of Agriculture.
For ongoing updates on surveillance and infested zones, visit screwwormnm.org.
