Screwworm Outbreak Declared in Florida Livestock, Triggering Statewide Agricultural Emergency Response
TALLAHASSEE, Florida – October 26, 2023. An outbreak of the New World screwworm, a parasitic fly larvae, has been officially confirmed in a livestock operation in southern Florida, prompting the state’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to declare a Level 2 agricultural emergency. The infestation, which poses a severe threat to warm-blooded animals including cattle, sheep, and pets, marks the first significant local transmission of the pest in the United States in over 30 years. The primary source of the outbreak has been traced to an illegal importation of infected animals from a region in Central America, according to preliminary epidemiological reports. Authorities have implemented a strict quarantine zone spanning 25 miles around the affected ranch, with mandatory inspection checkpoints for all livestock transport. The immediate impacts include the culling of 120 infected cattle and the placement of 4,000 sterile screwworm flies per square mile as a biological control measure over the next six weeks. Officials are urging all ranchers within the perimeter to report any signs of myiasis, the infestation of living tissue, to ensure containment and the protection of the state’s $15 billion agricultural industry.