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Florida bans shelter animal imports from Texas and New Mexico over flesh-eating screwworm
Screwworm concerns change animal shelter protocol
Florida agriculture officials implemented an emergency ban restricting rescue groups and animal shelters from bringing dogs and cats into the state from Texas and New Mexico after a flesh-eating parasite emerged out West. FOX 13’s Briona Arradondo reports.
TAMPA, Fla. – Florida agriculture officials implemented an emergency ban restricting rescue groups and animal shelters from bringing dogs and cats into the state from Texas and New Mexico after a flesh-eating parasite emerged out West.
Florida agriculture ban
What we know:
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson expanded screwworm restrictions on Wednesday, blocking the import of shelter and rescue animals from areas impacted by the New World screwworm.
Courtesy: United States Department of Agriculture
This parasitic, flesh-eating fly has been detected in Texas livestock and inside a dog in New Mexico.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture dashboard lists nine reported cases of the parasite so far.
Broken containment
Timeline:
“[It] was eradicated from the United States in the 1960s, and then eradicated from Mexico and Central America down south past the Darien Gap in Panama in the early 2000s,” said Edwin Burgess, an assistant professor of veterinary entomology at the University of Florida. “It’s recently broken containment from the region in Panama and has slowly made its way northward towards the U.S. border over the past two years.”
Previous Florida cases
The backstory:
Florida successfully defeated an outbreak of the same parasite a decade ago.
Screwworm cases popped up in Key Deer in the Florida Keys in 2016 and 2017.
During that outbreak, state and federal agencies launched a rapid response and quickly contained the flesh-eating flies.
Animals at highest risk
Why you should care:
Stray animals face the highest risk because they spend long periods outside and often suffer injuries that attract flies, Burgess said.
The fly larvae eat living flesh, making infestations incredibly painful for animals.
If travelers visit infected states, a well-maintained pet is unlikely to contract the parasite, but owners should watch for crawling larvae and a foul smell from a wound.
Tampa animal shelters
Local perspective:
Local operations around the Tampa area do not expect major disruptions from the state restrictions.
Organizations such as SPCA Tampa Bay and the Humane Society of Tampa Bay rarely bring in pets from outside Florida, typically doing so only during disaster relief situations.
Even then, local workers put every animal through strict health checkups.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from an interview with University of Florida veterinary entomologist Edwin Burgess and reviewed data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture dashboard by FOX 13’s Briona Arradondo.
The first case is about 2.5 months earlier than the first case last year.
SANTA FE, N.M. – The New Mexico Department of Health reports a Santa Fe County woman died from plague in the state’s first human case of 2026.
NMDOH said it has contacted people close to the woman and will conduct an environmental assessment to check for ongoing risk and make sure no other close contacts have symptoms.
“We extend our heartfelt condolences to the friends and family of the woman who passed away due to plague,” said Erin Phipps, state public health veterinarian for NMDOH. “This tragedy emphasizes the need for heightened community awareness and for taking measures to prevent plague infections.”
What is plague?
Plague is a bacterial disease carried by rodents across much of the western United States, according to NMDOH. People can get it through bites from infected fleas from wild rodents or household pets, through direct contact with infected animals and, in lung infections, through coughing.
NMDOH said symptoms in people include sudden fever, chills, headache and weakness. The agency said people may also have painful swelling of a lymph node in the groin, armpit or neck, and doctors who suspect plague should promptly report it to the department.
How is plague treated or prevented?
The agency said prompt diagnosis and antibiotic treatment can greatly reduce the fatality rate in people and pets. NMDOH urged people to avoid sick or dead rodents and rabbits, clean up places near homes where rodents live, use DEET or permethrin products outdoors, use veterinarian-approved flea control for pets, get sick pets checked quickly and see a doctor for unexplained illness tied to sudden severe fever.
The department said more information and fact sheets in English and Spanish are available on the plague page of the NMDOH website.
Recent cases of plague
New Mexico recorded three human plague cases in 2025 and one in 2024, which was fatal. NMDOH also said three dogs have been diagnosed with plague in 2026 after one cat and four dogs tested positive in 2025.
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