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SCREWWORMS ARE BACK AND CONGRESS MUST ACT | OPINION
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The following is an op-ed piece penned by U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) regarding the threat of the New World Screwworm spreading into the United States.
Hyde-Smith, who serves on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry and the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, is working with colleagues to address the challenge.
Read the online version of the op-ed, which was published by the Washington Examiner, by clicking here. It is also pasted below.
Screwworms are back and Congress must act | Opinion
August 2, 2025
As a former Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce and cattle producer, I’ve seen firsthand the devastating effects of animal disease outbreaks. Few threats concern me more than the return of New World Screwworm, a dangerous parasite that poses a serious risk to U.S. livestock and wildlife if we fail to act promptly.
The United States successfully eradicated screwworm in 1966 after decades of hard work. Today, that achievement could be in jeopardy without active coordination among the administration, Congress, and states to combat the threat of NWS spreading from Central America and Mexico into our nation.
I applaud Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and the Trump administration for moving quickly to develop a strategy that maximizes our readiness to stop this pest from spreading north. The Department of Agriculture is wisely turning to the sterile fly technique, a proven method used in past outbreaks. However, while sterile fly facilities are being built, there are other steps we can take now to promote a clear, coordinated, and practical strategy that works for livestock producers.
As part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Congress reauthorized and increased funding for the “three-legged stool” animal health programs: the National Animal Health Laboratory Network, the National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program, and the National Animal Vaccine and Veterinary Countermeasures Bank.
These programs already play crucial roles in tracking highly pathogenic avian influenza in poultry and dairy cattle and chronic wasting disease outbreaks in deer. Congress made the right call by beefing up these tools because they will be essential in monitoring and containing NWS.
Congress must build on this progress as it considers a so-called “skinny” Farm Bill by expanding research, testing capacity, and response strategies. We should also engage the private sector, the USDA Agricultural Research Service, and land-grant universities to help lead the way.
State departments of agriculture will also require critical federal support. These agencies are on the front lines of outbreak response and are key in informing national disease outbreak strategies. Many of these departments manage NAHLN labs, which provide early disease detection and accurate diagnostics. These labs also monitor wildlife, offering essential insight into how diseases move through ecosystems and affect agriculture and outdoor recreation.
Close federal coordination with state agriculture departments is also critical to ensure producers are well informed and willing to support eradication recommendations. As a former agriculture commissioner, I know producers trust their state leaders. This trust is key to any successful response, especially because we don’t know if livestock operations might be forced to deal with control zones and other emergency measures.
Animal health should be a bipartisan issue, and I believe it will be. The Senate must continue confirming the president’s nominees to USDA, including Dudley Hoskins as undersecretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs. Hoskins is an experienced and capable leader for this role, and his confirmation should not be delayed. He’ll play a key role in a coordinated national response to NWS and other disease outbreaks.
I also believe Congress should consider the Strengthening Tactics to Obstruct the Population of Screwworms Act, bipartisan and bicameral legislation I support to help ensure the USDA has the tools to stop the NWS. Additionally, as co-chairman of the Senate Veterinary Medicine Caucus with my friend Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), I’m committed to elevating issues that matter to the veterinary profession and public animal health. We need to beat animal disease outbreaks, which means addressing the distressing shortage of veterinarians across rural America. We simply must encourage students to pursue this career path in both public and private service.
The return of the screwworm is more than a serious threat. It is also a test of our readiness. We’ve beaten it before, and we can do it again, but only if the USDA, Congress, and our state partners act quickly, work together, and stay focused on the near and long-term needs to beat the parasites that threaten a vital agricultural sector.
This is our wake-up call. Let’s answer it.
Cindy Hyde-Smith is a U.S. senator from Mississippi and is the former Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce.
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