1. New World Screwworm: A Threat to Wildlife
USDA APHIS News Release
September 1, 2026
New World screwworm (NWS) is a threat to wildlife. All warmblooded wildlife species are susceptible to NWS, and untreated infested animals die quickly, which can reduce wildlife populations.
Wildlife surveillance is crucial for controlling NWS outbreaks in the United States. Wildlife can spread the pest over wide areas and across State lines. Monitoring screwworm in these populations is important for protecting wild species and other animals.
Wildlife Partner Toolkit
Find practical resources to promote public awareness of NWS and protect wildlife health. These materials help communicators, outbreak responders, and other professionals partner with USDA to stop screwworm.
2. Texas Biomed Joins the Fight to Stop Screwworm
Texas Monthly
September 1, 2026
For most Texans, stories of herds decimated by a flesh-eating parasite belong to the past - tales told by grandparents about the New World screwworm before the state helped drive it from the country. In June, the USDA announced that the devastating pest was back in the United States, with the first confirmed case of the current outbreak detected in a Texas calf.
In San Antonio, Texas Biomedical Research Institute has joined the fight.
Texas Biomed is best known for confronting some of the world's most dangerous infectious diseases, including the current Ebola outbreak. Its labs operate at the highest levels of containment, including the nation's only privately owned and operated BSL-4 facility. Now, that expertise is turning toward a threat much closer to home.
In June, Texas Biomed announced a partnership with Flyttr, a biotechnology company focused on biological solutions for major pest threats. Over the next two years, Flyttr researchers will use the Institute's high containment labs to develop and evaluate new approaches for suppressing the parasite, building on the sterile insect technique that helped eradicate it from the United States decades ago: releasing sterile male flies to mate with wild females, so their offspring never hatch.
Texas Biomed's BSL-3 laboratories provide researchers with specialized space and equipment for studying biological threats under controlled conditions. The Institute's experience conducting preclinical research also gives Flyttr a setting in which promising approaches can be evaluated systematically, helping move ideas from the laboratory toward solutions that could eventually be deployed in the field.
Full text: https://www.texasmonthly.com/sponsored/texas-biomed-joins-the-fight-to-stop-screwworm/
3. Disease insights aim to speed BSE eradication [edited]
European research consortium seeks long-term solutions to prion diseases like mad cow.
The Roslin institute
Feedstuffs
August 31, 2026
A new research program seeks to understand the origins of contemporary BSE cases in order to develop strategies and tools to assist disease eradication and help to prevent future outbreaks of prion diseases in livestock.
With €1.25 million in funding provided through the European Partnership on Animal Health & Welfare, the program is led by Dr. Fiona Houston of the Roslin Institute and involves scientists from the Friedrich-Loffler Institute in Germany, the National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food & Environment and the Pasteur Institute in France and the U.K. Animal & Plant Health Agency.
"We still don't know where BSE came from," explained Dr. Houston, senior research fellow at the Roslin Institute. "The original BSE outbreak was linked to contaminated cattle feed, which could have included products from sheep or cattle with undetected prion disease. However, despite a decades-long ban on feeding animal protein to livestock, cases of BSE still occur, and their causation is difficult to explain.
"We know BSE has a long lead time - cases can take years to come to light and are an infection risk during this period - which makes it all the more challenging to trace its origins and highlights the importance of efforts to eradicate it," she added. "Until we understand the disease better, we should be cautious about removing surveillance."
The research consortium will focus on four aspects of the disease. Scientists will seek to better understand the genetic basis of susceptibility to BSE, pick apart the possible origins of contemporary BSE cases and develop ways to detect and mitigate contamination in livestock environments.
Full text: https://www.feedstuffs.com/dairy/disease-insights-aim-to-speed-bse-eradication
4. A Banding Technique for Difficult Uterine Prolapses [edited]
Dr. Lane Schmitt shares his approach to managing severely damaged uterine prolapses in the field.
By Andrea Bedford
Bovine Veterinarian
August 31, 2026
Dr. Lane Schmitt, a large animal veterinarian in Montana, was a young associate when he encountered the uterine prolapse that changed the way he approached severe cases.
The cow was an Angus-Hereford cross, located about a mile from the barn. She was part of the practice's number one client herd; the pressure was on.
Then the cow jumped up and took off toward the barn.
He had heard about using a banding technique to amputate a severely damaged prolapsed uterus and happened to have purchased the equipment previously. So he drove back to the clinic to grab his Callicrate bander.
While he was at the clinic, Schmitt decided to grab some calcium for the cow, wondering whether hypocalcemia might have contributed to the prolapse. When he returned, the cow somehow twisted the calcium tube off the gun while he was administering it. When he opened her mouth, all he could see was the back of the tube in her esophagus.
"Wow, that was quite a night," Schmitt recalls.
He planned to return the next day and amputate the uterus, assuming the cow survived the night. She did. When he returned, he found the calcium tube had passed, and proceeded with the procedure. That case became Schmitt's first experience using a Callicrate prolapse band for a severely damaged uterine prolapse.
Since then, he has incorporated the technique into his approach to difficult prolapse cases.
5. PRRS-resistant pigs offer new hope for North America
Canada and Mexico pork leaders see gene editing as new hope for herd health and farm resilience.
National Hog Farmer
September 1, 2026
The United States has long been a leader in agricultural innovation, including in the development and regulatory review of gene-edited agricultural products. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) 2025 approval of the gene edit used to breed PRRS-resistant pigs marked an important step in bringing the technology closer to commercial reality.
As discussions about gene editing continue across the livestock sector, interest in the technology is growing throughout North America, especially as the impact of PRRS continues to grow at an alarming rate.
Across the continent, the industry sees the same problem-and perhaps the same potential solution. As gene editing moves from theory to commercial reality, both with the PRRS-resistant pig and other gene-edited livestock and crops, a number of countries are signaling confidence in the technology's potential.
Improving animal welfare and maintaining safety standards
In 2026, Canadian regulators approved PRRS-resistant pigs after an extensive review of animal, environmental and food safety data. The decision reflects a broader regulatory approach that treats gene editing as an extension of established breeding practices, provided it meets strict safety standards.
6. The spread of FMD to new areas is concerning, but consequences could be worse
WOAH
August 28, 2026
A serotype of foot and mouth disease (FMD) has been reported for the first time after 60 years in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, far beyond the region where it was first identified around 80 years ago. At the World Organisation for Animal Health, we are monitoring the situation closely, as every new FMD outbreak is not only a threat to animal health but also a reminder of the many ways in which animals and people are interconnected. To protect animal health, cooperation and prevention are essential: discover why.
More than 6,600 kilometres separate the capitals of Cyprus, Lesotho and Mongolia. Yet in 2026, these three countries found themselves confronting the same challenge: the emergence of a serotype of foot and mouth disease (FMD) never detected in their territories before.
Veterinarians and farmers have been dealing with FMD threats for decades around the world. Although the disease is rarely fatal, it is extremely contagious among animals and can have a major impact on their health and productivity. In some countries and regions, FMD has been successfully eradicated and, today, it is one of the few diseases for which WOAH recognises an official disease-free status, enabling countries to safely trade and export animals and animal products.
The new serotype of FMD recently detected in several countries across Europe, the Middle East and Asia has an interesting history. Known as SAT 1, which stands for Southern African Territories 1, it has historically been associated with southern Africa, where it was first identified in 1948. Despite being occasionally reported in some countries of the Middle East and of Europe between 1962-65 and 1969-70, SAT 1 has long been associated with Southern Africa. Since 2025, FMD SAT 1 has been increasingly detected in areas thousands of kilometres away from its traditional range, raising concerns over the last few months not only because of the distance it appears to have travelled in little time, but also because of the potentially significant impact it could have on animal health, livelihoods and economies.