Conditional approval granted to first drug to treat screwworm infestation in cattle
AUSTIN, Texas (KVIA) -- Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is praising the conditional approval of the first drug to treat screwworm infestations in cattle. The FDA granted conditional approval to Zoetis's Dectomax-CA1, according to Miller.
“To stop the New World screwworm quickly, we can’t just depend on sterile fly production," Miller said in a statement. "With the latest case popping up only 70 miles from our Texas border, we’re running out of time. It’s time to think outside the box. That’s why I’m excited to see the FDA give conditional approval to Zoetis’s Dectomax-CA1, the very first drug to both prevent and treat screwworm infestations in cattle."
This news comes less than a week after Texas launched a new statewide screwworm trapping plan.
ORIGINAL STORY (September 26, 2025): Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller says the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) launched a New World Screwworm Trapping Plan. Some new traps will be set in the El Paso area. The pest has been reported 70 miles south of the border in Mexico.
The strategy involves placing traps in key high-risk zones along the border and around major port regions, including in the El Paso area. They will be placed from the Maverick/Webb County line just west of Laredo to Brownsville. The traps will also be placed at the Brownsville, Del Rio, El Paso, Laredo, and Houston livestock export pens, as well as the Galveston and Corpus Christi port regions.
The department will install Red Delta Traps, Black Delta Traps, and black PVC traps. Samples from the traps will be sent to the USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) Parasite Identification Lab.
“The New World screwworm poses a serious threat to Texas livestock and rural communities,” said Commissioner Miller. “We are taking proactive steps to monitor, detect, and stop this parasite before it harms Texas agriculture. Our farmers, ranchers, and consumers depend on us being ready, and we will be.”
