Source

(news, not USDA confirmed the United States' first-ever case of New World Screwworm (NWS, Cochliomyia hominivorax) on 2026-06-03. This is the catalyst the retired "cattle disease / beef price" research line (ZTS/IDXX) was waiting on — and the exact reason it was retired.

Load-bearing facts (from the Texas Tribune piece):

• First US case, confirmed 2026-06-03 by USDA — "the country's first case of New World screwworm."
• Location: La Pryor, Zavala County, South Texas (~50 mi from the Mexican border). The Feb 2026 thesis logged NWS as "70 mi from TX"; it has now crossed.
• Host: a three-week-old calf (livestock — the cattle-supply vector, not a human/wildlife case). Sample confirmed at USDA's National Veterinary Services Laboratories, Ames, Iowa. No other detections reported so far.
• Federal response: APHIS personnel activated on the ground, working local partners. Eradication via the sterile-fly technique (sterile males released to collapse the breeding population) — production at Panama (existing) + Metapa, Mexico, with a new US facility planned for Edinburg, TX (opens fall 2027); dispersal facilities at Tampico, MX and Edinburg.
• Trade context: USDA shut the southern border to live-animal imports in May 2025 to keep Mexican cat