In 1966, the United States declared victory over a destructive flesh-eating parasite that devastated livestock.

The New World screw worm is a fly whose larvae burrow into the living flesh of mammals.

It was eradicated after a long campaign that involved releasing millions of sterile flies over infested areas. Last week, the new

world screw worm came back. The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed five cases in Texas

and New Mexico, three cows, a goat and a dog. These are the first cases in the food supply

in decades. Federal officials say the meat supply is safe, but the cattle industry is on high

alert. The U.S. cattle herd is already at a 75-year low. Beef prices are high, and a screw worm

outbreak could make it worse. Later in the show, we'll turn to another

critter wreaking havoc, ticks. The population is growing and spreading across the U.S., including in

areas that haven't had to deal with ticks before. Emergency room visits for tick bites hit a 10-year

high in April for that time of the year. And a growing number of Americans are discovering

they've developed an allergy to red meat triggered by a tick bite. I'm Jen White. You're listening to

the 1A podcast. We'll get to that and more right after this short break. Stay with us.

Welcome back to the 1A podcast. We're talking screw worms and ticks today. And let's start with the screw worm outbreak. Here to talk about the risks and what the government is doing about it is reporter Leah Douglas. She covers agriculture and energy for Reuters and has been following the outbreak. Leah, welcome back to the show. So much for having me.

And Caitlin Jettelina is an epidemiologist, scientific communicator, and author of your local epidemiologist

substack. Caitlin, great to have you with us. Thank you for having me. So, Leah, first, tell us more

about the New World Screwworm. What is it? New World Screwworm is a bit of a misnomer. It's actually a fly,

not a worm. It's a parasitic fly. And the screw worm can infest any warm-blooded animal. So you said

mammals, that includes livestock, but also pets, wildlife, and in some rare cases, people.

Now, five cases were recently detected in the U.S. This hasn't been seen in decades.

What's the risk of further spread?

The experts that I've spoken to have said that they do expect the screw worm fly to continue to spread. As you said, this was a

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