Farm workers at high risk amid screwworm outbreak in US south-west

Agricultural workers are among the highest risk group for human infection during the screwworm outbreak in the American south, yet they frequently face challenges in accessing public health – an ongoing concern amid zoonotic spillovers such as H5N1 bird flu. Screwworm has been detected in goats and sheep in three Texas counties in recent days, bringing the total to 16 known cases among animals and none reported in people. Despite being at greater risk of spillover, farm workers are frequently disconnected from healthcare; they often work long hours after clinics close for the day, live on-site and in remote locations, lack insurance or the financial resources to pay for healthcare, and face language barriers. Migrant workers and people of color may also fear seeking healthcare or even driving outside work as the Trump administration clamps down on immigrants. These factors make it more difficult to prevent and treat emerging diseases, and it makes it harder for public health to stop outbreaks at their source, including monitoring diseases, known as disease surveillance. Ranchers talk among themselves before a New World screwworm press conference at the Knipling-Bushland US Livestock Insects Research Laboratory on 8 June in Texas. …