Texas A&M AgriLife announced a user-friendly “Field Guide for Beef Cattle Producers” who find or suspect New World screwworm (NWS) in their herds, which will walk operations through the detection, reporting, collection, submission, treatment and prevention processes.
The guide was developed by two AgriLife Extension beef cattle specialists in the Texas A&M Department of Animal Science, Jason Smith and Jason Banta, and is available online at AgriLife Extension’s centralized NWS resource hub at tx.ag/ screwworm.
“We want to encourage producers to work directly with their veterinarian, who is best positioned to make informed recommendations for NWS treatment and prevention at the ranch level,” explains Smith. “This field guide provides actionable information in an easy-tounderstand form that can be used to complement that relationship and help guide producers through the process.”
The guide starts by encouraging producers to evaluate individual animals daily or multiple times per week if they feel that the animal is at risk for an infection, especially during high-risk periods, such as soon after birth for calves and calving for cows.
It also walks producers through symptoms to look for and the most common locations of infestation on animals, as well as a fourstep process for collecting larvae for submission and official identification.
“Reporting and confirmation of an infestation will help your operation receive a release of sterile flies to help suppress local NWS populations and limit spread,” according to Banta.
Additionally, the guide provides a step-by-step treatment plan, supported by research and practical field experience, along with a detailed prevention strategy to be combined with veterinary advice.
For more information on the contents of the guide, go to agrilifetoday.tamu.edu/.