Flesh-eating parasitic fly once eradicated from US now near the border

Cases of a flesh-eating infection miles from Texas’ border with Mexico are alarming officials about the return of a parasitic fly that was once eradicated.

Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported active cases of New World screwworm in the Mexican state of Nuevo León. In an April 20 statement, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said one infected calf, about 62 miles from the border, was the northernmost active case from the parasitic New World screwworm fly to date, calling it a “flashing red warning sign.”