The Texas screwworm cases are a wake-up call for US biosecurity

The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed June 3 what ranchers had been fearing: The New World screwworm, a flesh-eating parasite largely eradicated from the U.S. 60 years ago, was back. Within three weeks, 15 cases in livestock and pets have been confirmed across Texas and southeastern New Mexico. 

I am a biosecurity researcher who spent a year mapping threats to U.S. crop production. To me, the screwworm outbreak in Texas is more than a livestock crisis. It is a wake-up call for all agricultural biosecurity. 

Although there is plenty to criticize about the screwworm program, the USDA’s model did predict the fly’s return. Containment efforts along the border bought additional time. A coordinated response of quarantine zones, trapping, sterile-fly releases and emergency drug approvals was possible because of government preparation.

Still, we were unable to prevent its reemergence in the U.S. And screwworm is the threat we rehearsed for. What happens when the next threat arrives, one that doesn’t come with a playbook?

In research published this spring by RAND, my co-authors and I found that the U.S. biosecurity system is poorly prepared for that. Naturally occurring crop diseases not yet present in the U.S. could cause billions of dollars in losses if introduced here. Engineered pathogens delivered deliberately could be far worse.

The Corn Belt produces more than one-third of all U.S. corn and 34 percent of the world’s soybeans. Their combined export value exceeds $34 billion. But modern agricultural practices magnify their vulnerability: Tens of millions of acres are planted with a small number of high-yield varieties in rotation.

This kind of farming is efficient but also fragile. In the 1970s,........

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