Florida hopes quarantine and irradiated flies stop screwworm

In this Oct. 10, 2016 photo, Rhonda Williams of Cudjoe Key, Fla., has her Yorkie named Riley examined by Natalie Wendling, a veterinarian with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, at a roadside checkpoint in Key Largo, Fla. Agriculture officials are checking all animals exiting the keys for signs of New World screwworm. The parasite has killed dozens of endangered deer in the Florida Keys and officials hope to stop screwworm from spreading to livestock and pets on the mainland. (AP Photo/ Jennifer Kay)

By Associated Press October 11, 2016 4 min read

KEY LARGO, Fla. (AP) – A narrow ribbon of road linking the Florida Keys with the mainland is the front line in a renewed fight against maggots that can eat livestock and pets alive.

Near a Key Largo visitors’ center painted with larger-than-life tropical fish and sea turtles, northbound drivers with animals must stop for agriculture officials checking for signs of New World screwworm.

The parasite once cost the U.S. livestock industry millions every year. There hadn’t been a U.S. infestation in over 30 years, until the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed Sept. 30 that screwworm was killing rare, dog-sized deer found only in the island chain.

The source of the infestation isn’t known, but the Keys’ isolation may help stop screwworm from spreading again, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam said.

“We are obviously in a more remote part of the state with one way in and one way out,” Putnam said Monday in Key Largo.