U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, attended off-the-record briefings at the Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory in Kerrville on Monday.
Following the briefings, she hosted a standing press conference from Texas to provide updates on the New World Screwworm.
Ag. Secretaery Rollins was at the Knipling-Bushland Livestock Insect Research facilility located at 2700 Fredericksburg Road. .
The visit by Ag. Secretary Rollins followed the announcement this past week by the Federal and Texas officials that the New World Screwworm had been confirmed in Texas. Since then, three other cases have been reported — one of them in Gillespie County. The first case involved a three-week-old calf with an umbilical lesion located in Zavala County.
Targeted release of sterile NWS flies is being expedited to eliminate any reproducing populations in the area of the discovery.
