A parasite that eats livestock alive is heading towards the United States, but bipartisan legislation in Congress to tackle the issue is currently stuck.
“What’s clear is there’s more federal resources needed to be able to combat challenges to food sectors in the United States. This is a pressing one right now,” Sen. Ben Ray Luján, a Democrat, told NOTUS. “I appreciate actions that are being explored by the United States Department of Agriculture and Secretary Rollins, but we shouldn’t wait. The United States needs to get ready for this.”
The New World screwworm is a fly larva that burrows into animals and eats its hosts’ flesh and blood. It primarily infects livestock, but on rare occasions, humans too. It can kill a cow within two weeks when untreated.