Diné officials review screwworm response plan after Texas cases
WINDOW ROCK
A flesh-eating parasite federal officials spent decades driving out has returned to the United States, and the Navajo Nation’s top agriculture official said the tribal agriculture department is reviewing a more than two-decade-old emergency plan to meet the threat.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed June 3 that New World screwworm had been found in a 3-week-old calf in Zavala County, Texas, with larvae burrowing into the animal’s navel. It was the first confirmed case in the country since the pest was eradicated in 1966. Two days later, the agency confirmed a second infested calf about 5.6 miles away in the same south Texas county, roughly 30 miles from the Mexican border. Both cases fell inside an established quarantine zone, and surrounding samples have tested negative.
About 500 miles to the northwest, the detections are a distant but real warning for Navajo ranchers. Cattle, sheep and goats remain part of many households on the Navajo Nation, and Jesse Jim, the executive director of the Navajo Nation Department of Agriculture, said in a June 5 interview that the department has a response framework ready if the parasite moves north.
“The Navajo Nation does have an emergency response plan to foreign animal diseases,” Jim said.
New World screwworm is a parasitic fly whose larvae feed on the living flesh of warm-blooded animals, including livestock, pets, wildlife and, in rare cases, people. According to the USDA, a female lays eggs at the edge of an open wound or body opening. The larvae hatch and burrow inward, and an untreated infestation can be fatal.
Common ranch work, including branding and castration, can create wounds that attract the flies, according to federal agriculture officials. The navel of a newborn animal also can provide an opening.
Owners should watch for irritated behavior, the smell of decay, head shaking and larvae, said Jim. Only a veterinarian can confirm a case.
The Navajo Nation’s foreign animal disease plan was created in 2003 and designates the department and its Veterinary and Livestock Program as lead responders, Jim said.
Other Navajo Nation agencies would join if the situation escalated, including Resource Enforcement, Emergency Management, Health, Fish and Wildlife and the Attorney General’s Office. The response also could include the Hopi Tribe and state veterinarians and livestock boards in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado.
Notification of a foreign animal disease would come from the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, USDA and other partners, said Jim. That would trigger a small core response group that would expand only as needed. The Navajo Nation would rely on its veterinarian, David Manuelito, who would follow the lead of state animal-health officials.
Livestock owners should inspect animals often for open wounds.
“If you’re not checking them daily, even weekly, it’s high risk,” Jim said.
Owners buying animals out of state should inspect them for wounds before purchase, isolate new arrivals for 30 days and watch for symptoms, said Jim. Cattle transported over state lines must meet health testing and documentation requirements, and any animal grazed on Navajo rangeland needs a grazing permit.
“Do not buy cattle that have open wounds,” Jim said.
Owners who suspect a problem should call a veterinarian first or contact the Department of Agriculture at 928-871-6605 if they cannot reach one, said Jim.
Jim pointed livestock owners to screwworm.gov, the U.S. government’s unified site, which redirects to USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. The site carries the status, a map of confirmed cases and guidance for producers, pet owners and the public.
As of June 6, USDA reported no detections outside Zavala County and no locally acquired human cases in the U.S. The federal response includes quarantines, increased surveillance and the release of sterilized flies to collapse the wild population, the same approach that eradicated screwworm six decades ago.
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