Senate Democrats push USDA to boost screwworm mitigation efforts

Nearly two dozen Democratic senators on Thursday urged the Agriculture Department to expand its war against the New World screwworm, warning that new tactics are needed after the parasitic fly recently crossed the U.S. border.

Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), and Martin Heinrich (D-NM) led the group in asking Secretary Brooke Rollins to commit to a series of actions targeting the flesh-eating pest, which crossed the Texas border last week and threatens the multibillion-dollar livestock industry. There are now seven confirmed cases in the U.S., confined mostly to Texas, with one case in New Mexico.