New World Screwworm detected in Cochise County; Arizona launches containment plan [edited]
The Department of Agriculture established guidelines and shared prevention and containment plans in community meeting.
By: JJ McKinney
KGUN9.com
November 4, 2026
SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. (KGUN) - The Arizona and U.S. Department of Agriculture are developing a plan of action after New World Screwworm was detected in Cochise County, following the report of an infected horse near Hereford.
State and federal officials are now working with ranchers, veterinarians, and community members to prevent any more cases.
Cochise County is one of several counties across the southwestern United States currently reporting cases.
In response, the state is establishing a 12-mile infested zone around affected animals in southern Arizona.
Any animal confirmed to be infected will be placed under a 21-day quarantine. Animals in the surrounding area will not be permitted to move without state approval.
New World Screwworm believed to be in Graham County [AZ]
By David Bell
GilaValleyCentral.net
November 4, 2026
HATCHER - Desert Cross Veterinary Hospital announced Tuesday there is a suspected case of New World Screwworm in Graham County.
The announcement was made on the hospital's social media.
"Currently our suspected case is in a dog from Thatcher by the middle school. If you live in that area, please keep a close eye on your animals. If you have animals, actually look at them, run your hands over them, pay attention to what is going on and do not ignore any wounds," hospital officials posted.
Hospital officials also posted a listed of prescribed medications that will prevent screwworm infestation in dogs and cats. They are:
NexGard (afoxolaner): Authorized via EUA for treating NWS infestations in dogs.
Credelio (lotilaner): Authorized via EUA for treating NWS infestations in dogs and puppies.
Simparica TRIO
Full text: https://gilavalleycentral.net/new-world-screwworm-believed-to-be-in-graham-county/
New World screwworm cases in US animals jump to 113
By Liz Szabo, MA
CIDRAP News
November 5, 2026
The number of confirmed New World screwworm (NWS) cases in the United States jumped to 113 yesterday [11/4], as the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported an additional 42 cases since last week.
The latest cases-in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona-involve horses, cattle, sheep, dogs, and a chicken, according to the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. While Texas and New Mexico reported their first animal infestations with the parasitic fly in early June, Arizona confirmed its first case October 28, with an infested dog in Cochise County.
Two elk also have been infested in Texas. Most of the infestations are clustered along the border with Mexico, which first reported NWS infestations two years ago.
NWS can infest livestock, pets, wildlife, and, less commonly, people. The larvae of the parasitic fly feed on living tissue and can cause severe wounds, animal suffering, and significant economic impacts if not detected and treated quickly.
Full text: https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/new-world-screwworm/new-world-screwworm-cases-us-animals-jump-113
2. UK Veterinary Science Marks Opening of Sports Medicine Research Facility [KY]
Research to improve the health and welfare of horses and humans
MorningAgClips.com
November 5, 2026
LEXINGTON, Ky. - The University of Kentucky Sports Medicine Research Facility, housed within the Department of Veterinary Science's Gluck Equine Research Center at the Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, marked its opening with a select preview and ribbon cutting ceremony Oct. 30.
The ceremony was the official opening of the facility, offering a preview of the Cosequin Equine Exerciser and remodeled barn on the university's North Farm in Lexington. The facility will be a hub for advancing education and research with musculoskeletal disease and injury - a major welfare concern for horses and their owners, and the leading source of economic loss in the equine industry.
"This facility will provide novel research opportunities that focus on the improvement of equine welfare and safety and provide an unparalleled learning experience for graduate and undergraduate students," said Bruno Menarim, DVM, Ph.D., Bill Gatton Foundation Endowed Chair in Veterinary Physiology. "The facility will enable translational, federally funded research opportunities that focus on improving human well-being, including leveraging proven translational equine models of orthopedic conditions in humans."
3. African swine fever virus deploys layered immune evasion that stalls vaccine progress
Bioengineer
November 5, 2026
African swine fever virus, the sole member of the genus Asfivirus in the family Asfarviridae, has assembled one of the most elaborate immune evasion systems described among large DNA viruses. A new review published in Animal Diseases synthesizes recent findings on how the virus, a nucleocytoplasmic large DNA virus with a 170 to 190 kilobase genome encoding 150 to 200 proteins, dismantles both innate and adaptive immune defenses in its porcine hosts. More than half of the viral proteins remain functionally uncharacterized, yet the ones mapped so far reveal a coordinated strategy: the virus suppresses type I interferon production, manipulates inflammatory signaling and programmed cell death, and cripples antigen presentation and lymphocyte activation, all of which sustains intracellular replication and systemic spread.
The disease itself is severe. African swine fever, first reported in Kenya in 1921, has spread from sub-Saharan Africa to Europe, South America and Asia, and its 2018 introduction into China caused enormous economic losses. Infection produces high fever, systemic hemorrhages, and splenic and lymph node enlargement and necrosis in pigs. Alarmingly, the recent emergence between 2024 and 2026 of highly virulent genotype I/II recombinant strains in Asia has worsened the epidemiological threat. These variants cause acute hemorrhagic lesions and near-total case fatality in domestic pigs and, crucially, evade the cross-protection elicited by current genotype II-based live attenuated vaccines, a shift that complicates eradication and underscores the need to understand the molecular basis of immune evasion.
The virus targets porcine monocytes, macrophages and dendritic cells, using these key immune sentinels as its primary replication niche. Viral particles, roughly 260 to 300 nanometers in diameter, enter cells through clathrin-mediated endocytosis and macropinocytosis, and recent work shows the virus can also exploit caveolae-mediated endocytosis and hijack apoptotic bodies for cell-to-cell transmission. Once inside, replication occurs in perinuclear viral factories. The virus is also the only known DNA arbovirus naturally transmitted by soft ticks of the genus Ornithodoros, a trait that enhances its environmental resilience. Its genome is organized into a conserved central region flanked by variable regions enriched in multigene families such as MGF300, MGF360 and MGF505/530, which are critical determinants of virulence, host tropism and immune evasion. Based on B646L sequence divergence, 24 genotypes are recognized, though the standard single-gene assay fails to distinguish mosaic genotype I/II recombinants, requiring multilocus or whole-genome sequencing for accurate typing.
4. Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Confirmed in Clackamas County
Oregon's first confirmed case of HPAI in a commercial poultry flock in 2026
MorningAgClips.com
November 5, 2026
SALEM, Ore. - On November 4, 2026, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) confirmed Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in a commercial poultry flock in Clackamas County, Oregon. This is the first confirmed case of HPAI in a commercial poultry flock in Oregon in 2026. Samples from the flock were first tested at the Oregon Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (OVDL) at Oregon State University (OSU), which confirmed HPAI on November 2, 2026. The NVSL confirmed those results on November 4, 2026.
The Oregon Department of Agriculture's (ODA) State Veterinarian placed the Clackamas County commercial poultry flock under quarantine. None of the animals or animal products on the farm entered the food supply chain. When properly prepared and cooked, poultry meat and egg products remain safe to eat. For details on the active quarantine zone, ODA provides an online map that lets people enter their address to determine whether their property is included in the active quarantine zone where poultry and poultry product movement control measures are in place. The filed quarantine rule is available to view here: Rulemaking at ODA.
Full text: https://www.morningagclips.com/highly-pathogenic-avian-influenza-confirmed-in-clackamas-county/
5. US turkey industry shows signs of recovery heading into 2027
Michigan Farm News Media
November 5, 2026
After two years of shrinking supplies, the U.S. turkey industry is showing signs of recovery.
USDA estimates that about 198.5 million turkeys will be raised in 2026 - up 5 million birds, or about 3%, from 2025 - marking the first increase in the number of turkeys raised since 2023.
At 5.13 billion pounds, 2026 turkey meat production estimates are up about 6%, from 2025, while production for 2027 is estimated higher at 5.18 billion pounds, up 46 million pounds, or less than 1%, from USDA's 2026 estimates.
While production is recovering, American Farm Bureau Federation Economist Bernt Nelson noted that it's still lower than the 5.46 billion pounds produced in 2023, before multiple diseases issue began adding substantial challenges to the U.S. turkey industry.
"More birds are being raised, production is increasing and demand remains strong in both domestic and export markets," Nelson wrote in an AFBF Intel report.
6. USDA Traces Washington Bird Flu Outbreak to Idaho Cattle, Raising New Concerns About H5N1 Spread
Vet Candy
November 5, 2026
New genetic sequencing results suggest that infected cattle moving between states may be helping spread the virus, highlighting the importance of livestock surveillance and biosecurity as H5N1 continues circulating in U.S. dairy herds.
Federal scientists have uncovered an important clue about how highly pathogenic avian influenza reached dairy cattle in Washington state, and the findings are raising new questions about the role of cattle movement in the continued spread of H5N1 across the United States.
On November 4, 2026, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced that whole-genome sequencing of the virus detected in Washington dairy cattle identified H5N1 genotype B3.13. Genetic analysis indicates that the infections are consistent with virus transmission from Idaho to Washington, likely through the movement of cattle between states.
The findings are significant because they suggest that Washington's infections are connected to the ongoing dairy cattle outbreak rather than representing an entirely new introduction of the virus from wild birds.