Health and Social Policy: Why That Next Hamburger Is Going to Cost You

[Passages]

The domestic return of the New World screwworm, a parasite that can devastate cattle herds, happened while the Trump administration was focused on dismantling government.


by David Dayen
June 9, 2026

The primary driver of inflation in the U.S. economy—the forever war in Iran—has not yet taken full effect. Now we’ve found an entirely new driver.

Last week, the flesh-eating parasite known as the New World screwworm was found in a calf in Texas; a second case was identified about five miles away shortly thereafter. (A third case was found in a dog.) Screwworm flies lay their eggs in the live tissue of warm-blooded animals, from livestock to pets to humans. These larvae “screw” into the animal’s flesh, and while they are not very harmful to humans, in that the horrifying effects of maggots chewing into your skin are relatively easy to notice and address, they can kill a livestock host if not treated. In a widespread infestation, one of the last resorts would be mass culling, which would obviously have huge impacts on a diminished U.S. cattle herd.

The total herd count already sits at a catastrophic 75-year low, in part because of the screwworm outbreak that broke past a firebreak in Central America starting in 2023. The U.S.-Mexico border has for the past year been closed to live cattle auctions, affecting the feeder cattle that come in through Mexico to rebuild herds. But closing the border did not stop the flies from coming.

snip* An outbreak would dramatically impact ranchers who have been in a deep hole for the past decade from reduced stocks, and more recently from drought, tariffs, imports of cattle pushed by President Trump to lower the price, a war in Iran that has spiked costs of fertilizer and fuel, and now the screwworm. “The cattle producer in the U.S. has already been under extreme financial stress,” says Joe Maxwell, co-founder of Farm Action and a farmer in Missouri, where he once served in the state legislature and as lieutenant governor. “This is serious, the screwworm outbreak. But it’s even more serious because of the financial position they were already under.”

https://prospect.org/2026/06/09/why-that-next-hamburger-is-going-to-cost-you-new-world-screwworm/

The menace, Trump.

[biophile]

1. And yet, my guess is that most of the beef barons voted for Drumpf

So we all reap what they have sown; a bitter harvest

[Midnight Writer]

2. Not fair. The Trump Administration have already issued a comprehensive plan to deal with the screwworm.

The plan is as follows;

1) Blame Biden

2) Blame immigrants

3) Hold a Big, Beautiful Birthday Celebration for President Trump, complete with gladiator fights and a rally speech by the only guy who draws bigger crowds than Elvis (and he does it without a guitar!)

[Passages]

3. That is the general script, yep.