New Mexico
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.
Grant’s Monday Night Forecast
Monsoon storms will return to parts of New Mexico every day this week, while hotter temperatures move in later in the week.
Thunderstorms developed across the mountains of New Mexico Monday afternoon. These storms slowly drifted south into the evening. Almost all of these showers and storms have ended now tonight. Another round of afternoon thunderstorms is expected Tuesday, developing first over the mountains before spreading into nearby valleys and lower elevations again. However, some storms around the Four Corners will be on the drier side, increasing the threat for lightning caused wildfires with little rainfall.
The monsoon high that has been bringing thunderstorms early this week will shift well west of New Mexico on Wednesday. This will bring hotter and slightly drier weather across the state. Even so, afternoon thunderstorms will still develop, especially over the mountains and across northeast New Mexico. Drier air will limit storm coverage Thursday and Friday across central, northern, and western New Mexico, while southern and eastern parts of the state continue to see the best chance for afternoon storms. Hotter weather will also return later this week, with triple-digit heat expanding to more locations, including the Albuquerque metro area Thursday and Friday.
The heat will continue into the weekend as the monsoon high strengthens and shifts back toward Utah and Colorado. That pattern will also bring higher monsoon moisture into New Mexico, bringing increasing chances for afternoon and evening thunderstorms statewide Saturday and Sunday.
ROSWELL, N.M. (KRQE) — Organizers behind the annual Roswell UFO Festival say this past weekend’s event was a success. It was held from July 2 to July 4.
The festival was filled with unique booths, shops, shows and contests for paranormal enthusiasts. Roswell Mainstreet says they believe more than 12,000 people were in attendance, although those are preliminary numbers.
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