Alarm as once-eradicated flesh-eating parasite found in calf in Texas

USDA confirms first case of New World screwworm in cattle in six decades, posing threat to livestock industry

A flesh-eating parasite rarely seen in the US in six decades has been found in a calf in Texas, agriculture officials said, in an alarming development for the country’s cattle industry.

The New World screwworm fly (NWS) was confirmed in the animal in the south of the state, about 50 miles from the Mexico border, Brooke Rollins, the agriculture secretary, said late on Wednesday.