In today’s Beef Buzz, Senior Farm and Ranch Director Ron Hays shares insights from Dr. Rosslyn Biggs of Oklahoma State University. Dr. Biggs, who serves as Director of the Center for Rural Veterinary Medicine and as a beef cattle extension veterinary specialist, recently discussed the serious threat of the New World screwworm on the Angus at Work podcast. She cautioned, “We need to be very concerned.” Biggs explained that the parasite isn’t actually a worm, but a fly that deposits its eggs in open wounds or mucous membranes.
Dr. Biggs described the unique danger of the pest: “These New World screwworm flies will lay their eggs in an opening as small as a tick bite.” As the eggs mature into maggots, they feed on live tissue. “It’s effectively eating that animal alive,” she said, noting that untreated infestations can lead to an animal’s death within two weeks. During calving season especially, she added, the screw worm could “drastically change how we operate in so many ways.”
Looking back at past eradication success, Dr. Biggs highlighted the use of sterile insect technology. “What’s unique about female New World screwworms is that they only mate once,” she explained. “So if we’re able to sterilize the male flies… once that female mates, if she mates with a sterile fly, then that’s the end of the life cycle.” This method, historically used in Panama, helped push the pest out of the United States and Mexico.
Dr. Biggs stressed the importance of awareness and vigilance among cattle producers. “We don’t want to scare folks, right? We don’t want to create hysteria, but we want people to be aware. We want them to understand if they see something, we want them to report it.” She emphasized the value of strong relationships with veterinarians to detect and control possible infestations quickly.
Dr. Biggs cautioned that eradication efforts would not come cheaply. “The financial investment, should we get it here in the US, is exorbitant,” she said. Still, she expressed optimism about federal commitment: “I am hopeful with what USDA and Secretary Rollins has said, and the commitment to new facilities in Texas to deal with distribution areas, as well as potentially creating a new sterile fly facility.” For now, she urged producers to stay vigilant: “Folks need to be on point and need to be aware and stay in tune, because it is definitely a concern.”
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR for today’s show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
