Texas Modifies Another Screwworm Infested Zone, Easing Livestock Movement Rules in Zone 12.A While Other Zones Stay in Place

Texas has eased its screwworm movement rules in another part of the state. The Texas Animal Health Commission has issued a new executive order modifying New World screwworm Infested Zone 12.A, with concurrence from the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, APHIS announced on October 23. State and federal experts confirmed that portions of the area met the requirements in APHIS's New World Screwworm Response Playbook for zone release, the announcement said.

Modifying an infested zone removes the screwworm-related movement requirements for livestock and pets within the affected areas, according to APHIS. Two limits travel with the change: all interstate movement requirements and international export requirements still apply, and several infested zones in Texas remain in place, the agency said. Animal owners are directed to the commission's website for the current zone map and requirements before moving animals.

The October 23 action is the latest in a sequence. On October 13, Texas released two infested zones and shrank a third, lifting movement restrictions on livestock and pets in parts of Edwards, Schleicher and Sutton counties, Food World News reported from the commission's order. The first eligible zones were released on August 31, according to the commission's release list.

For grocery shoppers, the agencies' standing point has not changed: USDA's screwworm page says the pest is not a food safety issue and that the U.S. food supply remains safe, Food World News reported. The screwworm fight is a livestock and animal-health campaign, fought zone by zone — and on the agencies' own account, it is not finished.