A Long-Eradicated Pest Has Kentucky Experts on Alert and Warning Others

When is a worm not a worm? Stick around; we'll get to that.

We typically don't hear a lot about this species of insect or that species of insect until their arrival is practically imminent. Cicadas leap to mind, but we've also been on alert, in recent years, about murder hornets. Those were the days, huh?

Screwworms

At the time of this writing, the University of Kentucky and other agencies of the Commonwealth are monitoring a concerning situation south of the U.S. border, and they're warning livestock owners (outdoor pet owners should also take heed) that they need to be prepared.

New World screwworm activity in Mexico and Central America has put experts in the United States on high alert, even though they have yet to arrive at our doorstep. However, they are, according to Texas Commissioner of Agriculture Sid Miller, about 200 miles away from that "doorstep."

So much for this creature's 1966 eradication. That's right. By way of a sterilization technique, the New World screwworm was "disappeared" 60 years ago. The species made a brief reappearance in the Florida Keys in 2017 but was subsequently eliminated. Officially, the NWS is still considered eradicated, but only because this new swarm hasn't arrived in the states, yet.

How Damaging Are Screwworm Flies?

NWS maggots (this is already so pleasant, right?) burrow, like a screw, into an animal's flesh. As they keep feeding, tissue is destroyed. As more maggots hatch, the wounds grow larger, leading to catastrophic damage and, sometimes, death. And while livestock owners are on high alert, these screwworms will attack any living mammal or bird. And, in rare cases, humans, like last summer's first reported U.S. case in Texas.

Clearly, that seemingly isolated incident didn't sound the alarm bells like the current activity has done.

About the size of a housefly, screwworm flies might not appear out of the ordinary at all. And, again, they are not here yet. Plus, on the bright side, they were eradicated once before. Surely, in 2026, they can be eradicated again.