Some horse, bison and cattle imports into Texas from Mexico are being immediately suspended as a new deadly parasite gets too close for comfort.
The temporary stop in imports was announced Sunday by US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins because of concern about a parasitic fly that produces a kind of worm that can prove deadly to all three kinds of animals.
They're called "screwworms," but non-scientists and ag specialists would call "gross."
Screwworms were eradicated in Texas in 1966, but it appears to be returning and it is of great concern to the agriculture industry.
So far, the closest the worm outbreak has come is about 400 miles from the Texas border, but action is still required immediately to stop it in case the outbreaks pick up speed headed north.
"Steps are being taken right now to stop the progress of the worms. We know there are more than 1400 outbreaks of New World Screwworms in Mexico right now, and they continue to move northward," according to Gary Joiner, the communications director at the Texas Farm Bureau.
Because the worms can be devastating to herds of cattle and other mammals -- including some humans -- their march northward in Mexico toward the Texas has to be halted soon,
Because the worms burrow into the animals' wounds, lay eggs and then more of the worms burrow deeper into the animal, the resulting infections and trauma can kill the animals, and an outbreak of the worms is hard to stop, short of culling the sick, which can be devastating to farms and industry.
"Our best combat to slow that progress is using sterile flies, which stop the reproduction cycle of these pests. But they're in short supply. We need more sterile flies, and that's the focus right now," Joiner says.
Why are they dangerous?
"The word 'screwworm' really comes from the description of the larvae or maggots from the eggs, they kind of have a screwing mechanism on their mouth that allows them to burrow into the tissue, into a wound that's exposed, and that is what creates likely infections and difficulties for these animals because of what those larvae can produce," he explains.
And the threat is so serious, action is being taken right away, Joiner adds.
"Time is of the essence right now for our federal government and all industries related to livestock and agriculture to take steps to stop the process of these New World Screwworms.