The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) became authorized on Tuesday to allow the use of animal drugs to treat or prevent infestations caused by the New World screwworm, a flesh-eating parasite that has recently disrupted the cattle industry.
A declaration from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will allow the FDA to issue emergency use authorizations for animal drugs to treat the insect. A spokesperson for HHS did not specify what medicines have been green-lit to combat the parasite.
“Our priority is to safeguard both animal health and the nation’s food supply,” said FDA Commissioner Marty Makary. “FDA is acting swiftly and responsibly to help ensure we have the necessary tools to prevent and control New World Screwworm, minimizing risks to agriculture and public health.”
New World screwworms are a type of fly that lay their eggs in warm-blooded animals like cattle, horses, deer and even household pets like cats and dogs, according to the Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Once the eggs hatch, the larvae can cause deadly damage to animals as they burrow into open wounds to feed on living tissue. In rare cases, the bugs have been known to attack humans, but HHS said in a statement that the current risk to human health in the U.S. “remains very low.”
But the potential future threat to animals and the country’s food supply chain requires proactive action.
USDA announced in May it would suspend all cattle, horse, and bison imports from Mexico after the bug was detected about 700 miles from the U.S. border in animals in Oaxaca and Veracruz.
There are no FDA-approved drugs to treat the parasite in the U.S., but the agency can authorize the “flexible, faster use” of certain animal drug products approved for other purposes or available in other countries under an emergency use authorization, according to a statement from HHS.
“Stopping this pest is a national security priority and we are linking arms across President Trump’s cabinet to defend our borders and push back this threat,” said Agriculture Secretary Brooke L. Rollins.
