WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Representative Greg Stanton (AZ-04) sent a letter urging U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins to take swift action to strengthen Arizona's defenses against the growing outbreak of New World Screwworm (NWS).
The New World Screwworm is a flesh-eating parasite that feeds on living tissue and can cause severe injury or death in livestock and wildlife, with twenty-six confirmed domestic cases and infections detected within 500 miles of Arizona's border.
In a letter to Secretary Rollins, Stanton urged the USDA to assess federal investments needed to restore a sterile fly dispersal facility in Douglas, Arizona, which served as a critical hub in the nation's first successful effort to eradicate screwworm from the United States.
"The reemergence of New World Screwworm is a national security emergency that requires our utmost attention and a rapid, strategic surge of resources to the Southwest," Stanton wrote.
Stanton noted that the facility's location remains strategically advantageous as cases move closer to Arizona and as Arizona ranchers and cattle growers could soon face significant risks.
In addition to restoring sterile fly operations in Douglas, Stanton called on the USDA to:
- Expand support for fly detection and verification efforts at the University of Arizona College of Veterinary Medicine's Diagnostic Laboratory, one of only three national sites screening for New World Screwworm.
- Utilize direct hiring authorities to increase staffing levels at USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).
- Reinvest in international monitoring and prevention programs designed to stop the spread of screwworm in Central America before it reaches the United States.