The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department confirmed a New World screwworm infestation in a hunter-harvested female elk in Pecos County on Oct. 21. The sample was identified and confirmed at the ARS Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory in Kerrville. The Texas Animal Health Commission said it will modify a previously established infested zone, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the wildlife department are conducting additional wildlife surveillance in the area.
With hunting season underway, the wildlife department is urging hunters to inspect their harvest before field dressing or moving the carcass, looking for signs of infestation including irritated behavior, loss of appetite, head shaking, smell of decaying flesh, presence of fly larvae in wounds, or isolation from other animals. Hunters should check eyes, ears, nose, mouth, genitalia and mucous membranes, and inspect feet and between toes for foul-smelling wounds or maggots.
According to Alan Cain, Wildlife Division Director: 'The partnership between TPWD biologists and local hunters and landowners expedited the identification and confirmation of this new detection.' Anyone who suspects a wild animal has a screwworm infestation should contact their local TPWD wildlife biologist or call 512-389-4505.