Val Verde County declares local disaster after screwworm case confirmed

Val Verde County moved to put its own emergency footing in place after the first confirmed Texas New World Screwworm case was found just southeast of Del Rio. County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr. signed a local state of disaster after the pest was confirmed in La Pryor, about 70 miles from the county seat, signaling that local leaders want faster access to state and federal help if the insect keeps advancing north.

The case that triggered the response was confirmed June 3 in a 3-week-old calf in Zavala County, with larvae found in the animal’s umbilical area. The Texas Animal Health Commission said the sample was confirmed by the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, and said no additional Texas detections had been confirmed at that time. For ranchers, hunters and animal owners across South Texas, that matters because New World Screwworm is not a distant agricultural nuisance: its larvae hatch in wounds or mucous membranes and burrow into living flesh, causing infections that can worsen and, in some cases, kill the host animal.

Owens told The 830 Times that he wanted more help available for the county and its residents, and that the declaration is intended to make assistance easier to pursue. For Val Verde County, the immediate effect is political as much as practical. The county is telling Austin and Washington that it expects close attention on livestock producers, rural landowners and animal health officials who may be called on to watch for infections, report suspicious cases and respond quickly if the pest moves closer to Del Rio.

Gov. Greg Abbott had already issued a statewide disaster declaration on June 5 covering all Texas counties, saying the state would use available resources to respond and accelerate sterile-fly movement and construction of the new production facility in Edinburg. Abbott’s proclamation also said Texas had already assembled a joint New World Screwworm Response Team on June 25, 2025, bringing together the Texas Animal Health Commission and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. The governor cited the threat to Texas wildlife, livestock industries and the broader state economy.

The concern is rooted in a larger regional fight that has been building since Mexico first notified the United States of a detection on Nov. 22, 2024. USDA and APHIS later restricted live cattle, bison and horse imports through U.S.-Mexico land ports as detections moved northward. Federal officials say the parasite can affect livestock, wildlife, pets and, less commonly, people and birds, which is why Val Verde County’s declaration is aimed at more than ranch fences alone. In a county where livestock, open range and border-adjacent land use are part of daily life, the order is a warning that the next critical response may start here, not farther away.