The New World screwworm fly has reached south Texas, the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed Wednesday, the first time in decades that the parasite with flesh-eating larvae has threatened the nation's cattle industry and only the third time it's appeared in the U.S. in that time.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the case was in a 3-week-old calf in LaPryor, Texas, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the Mexico border. Texas State Veterinarian Bud Dinges said he has established a 12-mile (20-kilometer) quarantine zone, prohibiting the movement of any warm-blooded animal — including pets — outside that zone without an inspection.
Rollins said there have been no other detections of the fly in the U.S., and officials were quick to say that while the fly’s larvae are a threat to livestock production, they don’t infest food. Properly treated, even the infested calf should recover, Rollins said.
Rollins, U.S. and Texas agriculture officials, and cattle industry leaders have been sounding public alarms about the fly’s movement across Mexico for more than a year, spurred on by memories of it causing tens of millions of dollars of losses — potentially billions in today’s dollars — before its eradication in the 1970s.
It is the first case confirmed in Texas since 1966, Rollins said.
The months of effort to keep the fly out of the U.S. have included dropping millions of sterile screwworm flies in the area to mate with wild females — the same method used successfully before the fly was eradicated. Rollins said the USDA is confident enough in its preparations that it believes “there is no threat of mass infestation.”
“There is no reason to believe this incursion will result in establishment of the pest in our country," Rollins said.
The announcement of the suspected case comes only a day after Rollins had an online news conference to highlight the nearness of the threat, with cases been confirmed in Mexico as close as 25 miles (40 km) from the border — and to outline the USDA's efforts to combat it.
The New World Screwworm fly is a tropical species that decades ago infested cattle in warm weather across the southern United States, but it was contained in Panama until late in 2024.
The female fly lays its eggs in open wounds or mucous membranes and they hatch into larvae that eat flesh — making them unlike most fly species — and can infest livestock, wild mammals, household pets and even humans. Infestations can lead to death if left untreated.
In August 2025, federal health officials confirmed a case in a Maryland resident who had traveled to El Salvador, but the victim recovered and officials found no transmission of the parasite. Before that, the last outbreak was in the Florida Keys in September 2016, mostly among wild deer, and it was contained early the next year without spreading further.
The female flies mate once in their monthslong lives, and if they do so with a sterile fly, their eggs would not hatch — and the population would die out over time. Past eradication efforts were so successful that the U.S. shut down facilities for breeding sterile flies, leaving only one in Panama for decades.
That is changing. The USDA dedicated $21 million to convert a fruit-fly breeding facility in southern Mexico into one for breeding screwworm flies, opened a new center for dispersing sterile flies bred elsewhere in southern Texas and has started construction on a $750 million screwworm fly factory there. The breeding facility in Mexico should be operating next month, Rollins said.
Officials also deployed 8,000 fly traps along the U.S.-Mexico border, and Rollins said the USDA has tested more than 58,000 fly samples, along with 19,000 wild animals.
Rollins also closed the U.S.-Mexico border last year to livestock imports from Mexico, a decision she defended during her news conference Tuesday. The fly also can travel with people and their pets and with wild animals, officials noted, but Rollins stressed Wednesday evening that it doesn't fly great distances on its own.
Dinges said ranchers and pet owners need to understand that it's important to respect the quarantine zone.
“Please help us prevent any further movement of this pest by staying put,” he said.
FILE - A test container of dyed fly pupae are displayed at a Domestic New World Screwworm Sterile Fly Production Facility to combat the northward spread of NWS and protect American livestock, in Edinburg, Texas, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
FILE - An adult New World screwworm fly sits in this undated photo. (Denise Bonilla/U.S. Department of Agriculture via AP)
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — The New York Knicks' winning streak lives on, and they struck first in the NBA Finals.
Jalen Brunson scored 30 points, Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds, and the Knicks erased a 14-point second-half deficit to beat the San Antonio Spurs 105-95 in Game 1 of the finals on Wednesday night.
OG Anunoby had 17 points for New York — which has won 12 consecutive playoff games, the seventh team to have such a streak in NBA history. Brunson scored 13 points in the fourth, only six fewer than San Antonio managed as a team in that quarter, and sealed it with a spinning jumper while falling to the court with 38 seconds left.
“He's a gamer, man,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said. “In the biggest moments, he shows up. That's what MVPs are supposed to do.”
And the Knicks, who finished on an 11-0 run, made a little more history. They became the first team to beat San Antonio in a Game 1 of the title series — the Spurs were 6-0 in those — and this is also the first time the Spurs have ever trailed a finals before the finish.
Victor Wembanyama had 26 points and 12 rebounds for the Spurs, but he shot 6 for 21 from the field in his finals debut. Stephon Castle scored 17, while Julian Champagnie and Dylan Harper each had 16 for the Spurs.
“I was bad tonight,” Wembanyama said. “It's not more complicated than that.”
Game 2 is Friday in San Antonio.
Former San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich was at the game, as he’s been for every finals game in Spurs history, albeit watching from a suite and not stomping the San Antonio sideline. The Spurs legends — David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Bruce Bowen and more — were there, too.
So were Knicks great Patrick Ewing and the world’s most recognizable New York fans: Spike Lee, Tracy Morgan, Ben Stiller, Fat Joe, Timothée Chalamet and more. Plenty of non-celeb Knicks fans made the trip as well; Tommy Sherlock, a auto sales manager from Brooklyn, said it cost less for two Game 1 tickets in San Antonio, with hotel and airfare, than Game 3 tickets in New York would have set him back.
“First-class air, too,” Sherlock said. “By a lot.”
The Knicks led 14-7 early, the Spurs answered with a 20-13 run to go up by 10, the Knicks rallied and the second quarter saw six lead changes before San Antonio took a 55-48 lead into the break.
San Antonio pushed the lead to 14 midway through the third quarter before the Knicks stormed back, finishing the period on a 22-9 run and sending the game into the fourth tied at 76.
New York's lead was eight midway through the final period. Wembanyama made a pair of free throws with 2:16 left to put San Antonio up 95-94, but Brunson made a corner 3 on the next possession to put the Knicks on top for good.
“I think we let that one go,” Wembanyama said.
San Antonio's run of never trailing the finals had some close calls over the years. The Spurs were tied twice with New Jersey in 2003 finals, tied with Detroit twice in 2005, tied with Miami three times in 2013 — they lost that series in seven games, so they only trailed when it was over — and then were tied with the Heat once more in 2014.
It's only 1-0. But the Knicks are only three wins away from their first title in 53 years, and they just took home-court advantage away from San Antonio.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama tries to shoot against the New York Knicks during the second half of Game 1 of the NBA Finals basketball series, Wednesday, June 3, 2026, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
New York Knicks guard Josh Hart (3) steals the ball from San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama during the second half of Game 1 of the NBA Finals basketball series, Wednesday, June 3, 2026, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) looks down as New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) looks towards his bench during the second half of Game 1 of the NBA Finals basketball series, Wednesday, June 3, 2026, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) is pressured by San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper (2) during the first half of Game 1 of the NBA Finals basketball series, Wednesday, June 3, 2026, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson motion after a basket against the San Antonio Spurs during the second half of Game 1 of the NBA Finals basketball series, Wednesday, June 3, 2026, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama and New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) battle for the rebound during the second half of Game 1 of the NBA Finals basketball series, Wednesday, June 3, 2026, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
New York Knicks head coach Mike Brown laughs with center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) during a time out during the second half of Game 1 of the NBA Finals basketball series against the San Antonio Spurs, Wednesday, June 3, 2026, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
New York Knicks guard Mikal Bridges (25) shoots past San Antonio Spurs center Luke Kornet (7) during the second half of Game 1 of the NBA Finals basketball series, Wednesday, June 3, 2026, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) yells during the second half of Game 1 of the NBA Finals basketball series against the San Antonio Spurs, Wednesday, June 3, 2026, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) spins as San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper, left, defends during the first half of Game 1 of the NBA Finals basketball series, Wednesday, June 3, 2026, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
New York Knicks head coach Mike Brown speaks to the media prior to the start of the NBA Finals basketball series against the San Antonio Spurs, Tuesday, June 2, 2026, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
San Antonio Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson speaks to the media prior to the start of the NBA Finals basketball series against the New York Knicks, Tuesday, June 2, 2026, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
