BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana agriculture officials are stepping up efforts to keep the destructive New World screwworm out of the state after several cases were confirmed in Texas and New Mexico, prompting new animal movement restrictions and heightened surveillance.
Louisiana Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain told KTBS five cases of the parasitic pest have been confirmed since June 3, including infections in three calves, a goat and a dog. While the dog originated in New Mexico and crossed into Texas for treatment, the remaining cases were found in Texas, marking the closest known detections to the U.S.-Mexico border in decades.
“Just a little more than two weeks ago, the screwworm was 20 to 30 miles south of the Texas border,” Strain said. “Now we’ve seen cases more than 30 miles north of the border.”…