New World Screwworm, HPAI Underscore Importance of Food Animal Health, Animal Disease Surveillance Efforts

Jun 17, 2026

By Mary Hightower

The return of New World screwworm to the United States and the global struggle against highly pathogenic avian influenza demonstrate the importance of disease surveillance to protect food animal health, a team of agricultural economists said.

With the emergence of foot-and-mouth, “mad cow” disease and other epidemics, global animal agriculture has seen its share of losses over the decades.

Earlier this month New World Screwworm was confirmed in Texas and New Mexico after being largely eradicated from the United States in the 1960s. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said screwworm does not pose a threat to the food system.

The consequences of how those diseases are tracked and contained front and center in “Lessons Learned in U.S. Animal Disease Surveillance for Commercial and Smallholder Systems in the Twenty-First Century,” an article from “Choices. The magazine of food, farm and resource issues,” published by the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

Eruption of diseases in agriculture requires tailored responses, said Amy Hagerman, Oklahoma State University associate professor and extension specialist for agriculture and food policy. Hagerman was lead author on the article.

Source : uada.edu

Video: Synthetic Microbiota Explained - Dr. Alexandre Thibodeau

In this episode of The Swine it Podcast Show Canada, Dr. Alexandre Thibodeau, from the University of Montreal, explains how synthetic microbiota and bioreactor systems can help researchers study gut microorganisms, evaluate feed additives, investigate Salmonella control strategies, and develop alternatives to animal trials. Listen now on all major platforms!

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