Screwworm Has Been Next Door All Year. Here's How to Stay Out of a Zone.

Kinney County has been lucky so far. As of this week, our county isn't on the Texas Animal Health Commission's list of places with screwworm movement restrictions. But look at who is. Val Verde to the west. Edwards to the north. Uvalde, Zavala and Medina all had zones this summer before they were released. We're more or less surrounded by places that have dealt with it.

New World screwworm came back to Texas on June 3, when it was confirmed in a calf in Zavala County. It was the first U.S. case in this outbreak. Edwards County had a cow on June 9. Val Verde had a sheep in August, a goat later that month, and a cow on October 21. TAHC now counts 21 Texas counties with at least one confirmed case and 57 premises. Parts of 17 counties are under movement restrictions right now, from El Paso down to Starr and Zapata.

If you've never been through it, here's how a zone works. When a case is confirmed, TAHC draws an infested zone around it. Inside that line, no warm-blooded animal can leave without prior TAHC approval. That means cattle, sheep, goats, horses, exotics and pets. Before an animal leaves, an inspector has to look it over and treat it, then write up a movement and treatment certificate listing the product used and the animal's official ID. Hides, carcasses and parts of host animals get inspected before they leave too. Moving animals out without that paperwork can get you fined or prosecuted.

Zones do get lifted. Uvalde County was released in September, and Edwards and Val Verde both have had areas released after TAHC checked on them. It takes time, though, and in the meantime the folks inside the line can't sell, haul or ship until they've been inspected.

For a goat and sheep county like ours, a zone in the wrong place would hurt. So would one that cuts across a lease or splits a ranch from its shipping pens. A buyer looking at country out here this fall is already asking me where the nearest zone line is. That question didn't come up a year ago. So what can you do from here? Mostly, look at your animals.

A few things not to worry about. Sterile flies are being released from the air and the ground in affected areas. That's how screwworm was wiped out of this country in 1966, and USDA says the sterile flies are no risk to people, livestock or wildlife. If you see a fly, don't panic. Plenty of flies look alike. Biologists identify screwworm from the larvae, not from a fly on the fence.

If you think you've got a case, call it in within 24 hours. That's what TAHC asks. For livestock and pets, call the TAHC vet on call at 1-800-550-8242. For wildlife, call Texas Parks and Wildlife at 512-389-4505. If you need an inspection to move animals out of a zone, TAHC's inspectors can be reached at 512-714-1936, and TAHC keeps a list of certified inspectors on its website.

Every county around us that got a case went from "not here" to "inside a zone" overnight. If that happens here, the ranches that already have a vet lined up, IDs on their animals and somebody checking pens every day will be the ones still shipping.

I sell ranches. I don't doctor them. If you've got a question about a zone line, TAHC's map and orders settle it, not me.


James Bigley is a Texas land broker and Accredited Land Consultant with James Bigley Ranches. He writes about ranch land, wildlife, water and Texas ranch history. Reach him at jamesbigleyranches.com or 210-241-9496.