Texas Gov. Greg Abbott expanded the state's emergency response to the New World screwworm on Monday after additional cases of the flesh-eating parasite were confirmed.
The Washington Examiner reported that Abbott directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management to elevate the State Operations Center to Level II, an escalated response level, as state and federal agencies work to contain the outbreak.
"I have activated the full use of all state resources to respond to the New World Screwworm threat," Abbott said in a statement.
"The protection of our ranchers, livestock producers, deer breeders, and the Texas economy from this pest is a top priority," he added.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Monday that four cases have now been confirmed in Texas, including cases involving calves in La Salle County and a dog in Andrews County.
Federal agriculture administrators confirmed the first U.S. case last week, marking the parasite's return after decades of eradication efforts.
The New World screwworm is a parasitic fly whose larvae feed on living tissue by entering open wounds. The pest primarily threatens livestock, wildlife, pets, and, in rare cases, humans.
Abbott is also pushing to accelerate construction of a sterile fly production facility planned for Moore Air Base in South Texas. The facility is intended to support eradication efforts by producing sterile male flies that can be released to suppress the screwworm population.
"We have eradicated this pest before, and we will do it again in close cooperation with our federal partners," Abbott said.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Monday that the nation's food supply remains safe despite the recent cases.
"This is not a virus, it's not a disease, it's just a little pest," Rollins said during an interview on CNBC.
Rollins said the administration has committed more than $1 billion to combating the parasite and is already releasing about 10 million sterile flies per week in affected areas.
"We've beaten it before; we've got to beat it again," she said.
Federal and Texas agriculture agencies have spent months preparing for the screwworm's movement north through Mexico.
They're now focused on preventing the parasite from spreading further into Texas and other parts of the United States.
The incursion of the pest into Texas is just the latest challenge facing U.S. farmers, Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., told Newsmax on Monday.
Appearing on Newsmax's "Wake Up America," Marshall said ranchers are grappling with multiple pressures, including record-high beef prices, shrinking cattle inventories, rising fertilizer costs, and the threat posed by the flesh-eating parasite that has prompted restrictions on cattle imports from Mexico.