Screwworm myths, sterile flies, and what vets should do now: New Vet Watch episode

Check out the latest Vet Watch episode now!

New World screwworm has a horror-movie name and a very real animal health impact, and it is back in the headlines after decades outside the US. On the latest episode of Vet Watch from dvm360, host Christopher Lee, DVM, MPH, DACVPM, DACVM (parasitology), sits down with Kathryn E. Reif, PhD, MSPH, Bailey Goodwin Endowed Professor of Parasitology at Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine, to separate science from panic on one of the year's most-talked-about emerging threats.

Reif starts by clearing up the biggest myth: the screwworm isn't a worm at all, but a parasitic fly whose larvae feed on living tissue, what she calls the most morbid version of the hungry, hungry caterpillar. That's what sets it apart from ordinary wound maggots, and why fresh maggots in a living wound are a report-it-now finding rather than a clean-and-move-on one.

That surveillance job, she stresses, belongs to everyone. “The number one thing pet owners, veterinarians, and the general public need to be on the lookout for—and honestly, we all have a role in this, it's not just a veterinarian-only issue—is maggots,” Reif said.

From there, the conversation gets practical. Reif explains why this isn't just a cattle issue, even though the Texas cattle economy alone faces a potential $2 billion annual hit: of the 29 US cases documented so far, most are cattle, but sheep, goats, and even dogs are on the list, and any warm-blooded host with an open wound is fair game. She maps the parasite's temperature-driven, highly seasonal spread; walks through the sterile insect technique that eradicated it once before and the production gap standing in the way today (one Panama facility makes 100 million sterile flies a week; re-eradication would take an estimated 500 million); and revisits the 2016 Florida Keys outbreak as a real-world case study in how fast a coordinated response can work.

She also tackles the questions clients will actually ask, from at-home prevention with familiar isoxazoline flea-and-tick products to beef prices, closing the door firmly on food-safety fears. Her bottom-line message for clinicians outside affected areas: don't panic, but know your role, because early, community-level surveillance is what shortens the fight.

Whether you practice in an affected region or hundreds of miles away, this episode delivers the surveillance, reporting, and prevention guidance you need, with the right level of urgency. Watch it now!