LUBBOCK, Texas -- Texas livestock producers are on heightened alert following confirmation from the USDA of a positive New World screwworm case, just 70 miles south of the U.S. Border.

While the pest has not yet crossed into the United States, experts say the situation is being closely monitored. The news is raising concerns across the agricultural industry, particularly in southern states like Texas.

“It’s not a worm. It is the larvae of a fly, which we call the screwworm fly,” said Dr. Karl Harborth with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension. “It looks like a screw, and the way it burrows into and feeds on living flesh is how it got its name. Its species name is Cochliomyia hominivorax, which translates to ‘man-eater.’”

The New World screwworm was eradicated from the U.S. in 1966, but in recen

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