The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed three more New World screwworm (NWS) cases, bringing total detections to five and heightening concerns that the flesh-eating pest, once eradicated in the 1960s, could threaten the nation's already strained cattle industry.

The latest NWS cases include three calves and a goat in Texas, along with a small dog in Lea County, New Mexico, marking the first confirmed case in that state, according to the USDA. The dog had not traveled to Mexico or Texas, prompting authorities to investigate the surrounding property for fly larvae that feed on living flesh rather than dead material.

"Over the past week, USDA has identified and expeditiously confronted four confirmed detections of NWS. While we address these instances that require immediate attention, and continue to sample suspected cases, we are simultaneously working to eradicate the pest entirely," Dudley Hoskins, the USDA's marketing and regulatory undersecretary, said in a statement. 

The first NWS cases were discovered last week in calves a few miles apart in South Texas:

The second case:

Cases were announced Monday in a calf in La Salle County, southwest of San Antonio, and in a goat in Gillespie County, west of Austin.

University of Florida entomologist Edward Burgess told AP News that new NWS cases may emerge in the coming days and weeks, but that does not necessarily mean the pest is spreading.

"When that first case is seen, everyone is being vigilant and their eyes are on it more intensely," Burgess said. "And when you are looking for something, you are more likely to see it."

Well...

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins explained on Monday the USDA's "War on Screwworm" plan to eradicate NWS. 

The rising number of NWS cases in the U.S. poses a threat to the nation's cattle herd if the spread runs rampant, especially with herd size already at a 75-year low, beef prices at record highs …

…and meatpackers under pressure from fewer and more expensive animals. We recommend that readers review the note from Goldman analyst Thiago Bortoluci on NWS.