Carnivorous snails prey on American livestock

Southern states are bracing for a potential New World snail invasion that could disrupt livestock markets and drive up already high meat prices.

So far, the parasite has not yet landed in the United States, but has spread to Mexico and Central America. Previously eradicated from the United States in the 1960s, the fly can attack livestock, pets, wildlife and, in occasional cases, humans. The name of the parasites comes from their larvae, which bite into living flesh like a screw, causing grave tissue damage and sometimes death.

With multiple cases reported within 100 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border, the federal government has already banned the import of live cattle from Mexico, exacerbating deficiency from home-made beef. State and federal officials also created recent monitoring, testing and quarantine protocols even as the feds implemented measures to sterilize millions of flies — including a recent $750 million facility that will produce sterile flies.

“I think it will be very difficult to maintain this species outside the United States at this point,” said Dr. Samantha Holec, state veterinarian for the New Mexico Livestock Board, which regulates the livestock industry.

Beef prices are already at record highs, with federal data showing the average price of ground beef this month was $6.90 per pound. That’s a 77% raise from January 2020, when the price of ground beef was $3.89 per pound, Yahoo Finance reported.

Years of drought, increased operating costs and other supply disruptions have forced farmers to cull herds to the lowest levels in 75 years, study finds Federation of American Farm Bureaus. Despite the drop in supply, demand remains sturdy, which has forced many ranchers to feed cattle to record weights.

Beef prices are unlikely to fall because it takes time to raise herds and raise production, said David Anderson, a professor and extension specialist in livestock and food marketing at Texas A&M University. He said beef producers appear well-prepared to deal with a domestic snail invasion that many consider inevitable.

“I think we’ll eliminate it again. I think it just depends on how long it takes us,” he said.

But the market has already been disrupted by a ban on imports of live Mexican cattle, which traditionally occupy American pastures and feeding grounds before slaughter.

“We are certainly feeling the consequences of our political response to the snail scare,” he said.

“Long Term Response”

The New Mexico Department of Agriculture began operations last week recent website in partnership with several agencies to provide a single source of information about the New World snail, including how to identify infestations, protect people and animals, and report suspected cases.

As the worm approaches New Mexico, agencies are focusing on outreach with few details about the broader effort

The United States Department of Agriculture has approved the emergency employ of several medications to prevent and treat the parasite. These include ivermectin, a drug used by many people collected for off-label employ during the coronavirus pandemic, even though the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not approved its employ to treat the virus. But Holeck said farmers need to be careful not to start preventive medications too early or overuse them.

“While it’s important to have these drugs, we have to be very careful about how we use them because we don’t want to develop resistance to these drugs and make them ineffective,” Holeck said.

Fly larvae (larvae) can burrow into the flesh of live animals through wounds as petite as a tick bite or through body openings such as the eyes or nose. The adult snail fly, about the size of a common housefly, has orange eyes, a metallic blue or green body, and three obscure stripes along its back.

Holeck said farmers will need to keep a close eye on newborn calves with exposed umbilical cords. They may need to rethink branding and marking efforts in the event of an infestation, as wounds can provide an entry point for pests.

New Mexico has distributed testing kits to all county offices for producers and the general public who suspect cases. Holeck said the state has already conducted about 30 tests – all of which have come back negative.

She noted that it took U.S. and Mexican officials more than a decade to eradicate the latest plague.

“It won’t be a quick fix,” she said. “This will be a long-term response and will require everyone to work together to take control of it.”

“We will be infected”

To eradicate the snail, the federal government plans to do just that raise sterile male flies and then release them into areas with established populations. Sterilized males mate with females, which then lay unfertilized eggs. Officials say that because females mate only once in their lives, this method gradually reduces and eliminates the fly population.

The USDA just announced a figure of $750 million sterile facility for flies in Edinburg, Texas, that aims to produce up to 300 million sterile flies per week when it opens next year. The agency also invested in sterile fly control facilities in Mexico and Panama.

However, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said the plants would not produce enough sterile flies to eliminate the parasites.

“It will infect us,” he said. “There is no doubt about it. And the USDA knows it. They have already distributed test kits to ranchers, ranchers, veterinarians and wildlife workers throughout the Rio Grande.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if we had a case today,” he said earlier this month.

Miller said farmers should have no problem accessing effective medications like ivermectin, which he said he still personally takes weekly.

He expects the snail to cause transient fluctuations in livestock markets as farmers treat and quarantine affected herds. Texas is by far the leading beef producer in the country over 12.5 million cattle. For now, the outbreak is expected to affect animals in several counties along the southern border.

“If the entire state of Texas gets infected, it will be a lot,” he said.

In the event of an outbreak USDA created Animal monitoring, reporting and quarantine protocols. However, because the disease does not pose a threat to food safety, the agency will not stop any movement of animal products, including meat.

However, the infection can spread to other animal products, farm animals and even pets, officials warn.

While farmers can hold back cattle during an epidemic, dairies can suffer immediate losses in the event of an infection, he says University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources.

“Dairy cows produce milk every day that must be processed immediately. If a farm is quarantined or a facility closes, the milk quickly spoils and must be thrown away,” said Daniela Bruno, dairy advisor for the University of California Cooperative Extension.

She said producers should review their insurance and raise biosecurity against threats such as snails and bird flu that have re-emerged in California dairies.

The federal government and states have been preparing for months.

During a February trip to the Rio Grande Valley with Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins said, “We are as prepared as we can be.” Secretary in March he told Oklahoma Farm Report that the agency predicted an invasion of Texas as far back as last summer, but acknowledged there was an ongoing risk.

“When you look at the heat maps, there’s no doubt that a lot of that temperature is shifting upwards,” she said of the snail.

Stateline reporter Kevin Hardy can be reached at: khardy@stateline.org.