The parasite has not been seen in Texas since the 1960's, but has been seen in Mexico in recent weeks.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Warning on Flesh Eating Parasite

A problem that was eradicated in Texas back in 1966 could be making it's way back to the state. The New World Screwworm is actually not a worm at all, but is a flesh eating fly.

A cow infected with screwworms was found in Mexico. The screwworm can cause quite the headache for farmers as they can infect livestock. Also to hunters who hunt deer, the screwworm can infect them as well. This creature likes to attack open sores on those animals and lay their eggs inside of them. The parasite can lay from 200 to 300 eggs at time. Once they hatch, they turn into maggots that eat whatever it is inhabiting from the inside.

Texas Eradicated the Screwworm in the 1960's

Back in the 1950's these parasites were a huge headache for farmers. It's estimated they wiped out $200 million worth of livestock every year. Which is equivalent to 1.8 billion dollars today. Nobody wants to see these things back in Texas. What the state did back in the day was produce sterile flys that would mate with the screwworm. These sterile flys would sterilize the deadly eggs the screwworm would lay. This technique is still used south of us to this day, however the screwworms have not been this close to the United States in quite some time.

What to Look For if an Animal is Infected With Screwworm Eggs

• Unexplained wounds or sores that do not heal
• Skin wounds or sores that worsen over time
• Bleeding from open sores
• Feeling larvae movement within a skin wound or sore, nose, mouth, or eyes
• Seeing maggots around or in open sores
• A foul-smelling odor from the site of the infestation
• Fever or chills from a secondary bacterial infection

You can read more on the screwworms here if you want some more information.