Author: U. S. Agricultural Research Service

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2018-03-30

Total Pages: 24

ISBN-13: 9780365705901

Excerpt from Facts About the Screwworm Barrier Program The screwworm is a destructive parasite of warmblooded animals that has been dreaded by livestock producers since pioneer days. Screwworms are attracted to and deposit their eggs in open wounds of domestic and wild animals and man. Screwworm larvae (maggots) hatch in the wounds and devour the flesh of the living host animal, causing weight losses, general reduction in productivity, maiming, and ire quently death. Before large-scale control measures were launched by the u.s. Department of Agriculture in cooperation with the affected States, annual losses to the livestock industry from screwworms sometimes rose to many millions of dollars. Screwworm losses among wildlife were also high. The last-remaining established infestations of screwworms were eradicated from the United States in 1966 as a result of all-out campaigns in the Southeast and in the Southwest. Although the eradication goal has been reached, the battle against the screwworm is still far from ended. Mexico and other countries to the south still have established populations of screw worms. The task now is to keep the screwworm from gaining a foothold once again in the United States. This could happen with disastrous results to livestock producers and related industries unless strong defense against the screwworm are maintained. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.