SAN ANGELO, TX — The Texas Animal Health Commission on Thursday released portions of Coke and Tom Green counties from New World screwworm quarantine and animal movement restrictions imposed in June after a cow in Tom Green County tested positive for the parasite.
The Sept. 3 executive director order lifts Infested Zone 05 restrictions that had barred warm-blooded animals from leaving the designated area without inspection, treatment and authorization. Officials said surveillance after the last confirmed detection found no additional New World screwworm cases and that control measures had achieved their purpose.
The first local case was confirmed June 11 in a bovine in Tom Green County. The next day, TAHC Executive Director Dr. Lewis R. Dinges established Infested Zone 05 and restricted movement in the affected parts of Coke and Tom Green counties.
State and federal agencies, including TAHC, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, worked with ranchers, veterinarians, livestock markets, industry groups and local governments on an eradication plan. USDA released sterile screwworm flies in and around the zone to suppress any wild fly population. Officials also used animal inspections, treatment protocols, movement controls and continued trapping and monitoring.
Dinges found that fly-trapping data, sterile-fly dispersal, visual checks of animals for myiasis — infestation by fly larvae — and the absence of further detections met the criteria for release. The order is effective immediately.
New World screwworm larvae burrow into the living tissue of warm-blooded animals, including livestock, pets and wildlife. The pest was last eradicated from the United States in the 1960s. The current U.S. outbreak began June 3 with a confirmed case in a calf in Zavala County. Texas has since established multiple infested zones; TAHC released its first eligible zones on Aug. 31 in portions of Gillespie, Kerr, Kimble, La Salle and Webb counties.
Officials cautioned that vigilance is still required. Animal owners and caretakers should watch for wounds and signs of infestation and immediately report suspected cases to TAHC at 512-719-0700.
More information is available at tahc.texas.gov/emergency/nws.html.
The order is posted at tahc.texas.gov/regs/pdf/2026-09-03_NWS_EDO-InfestedZoneRelease_05.pdf.
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