Although a report had been made in 1982 of a case in Hidalgo County, Texas, where myiasis had been discovered in a dog, C. rufifacies tends to primarily affect livestock. In many countries, especially Australia, C. rufifacies maggots are known to cause skin and underlying tissue damage of sheep; this processes is known as "sheep strike" and results in economic loss. Typically, economic damage inflicted by these maggots occurs as cutaneous myiasis on ovine livestock. Periodic oviposits on improperly cleaned newborn calves, as well as myiasis of mature cattle and sheep, have been reported in Texas and Arizona, where the fly has established resident populations. Animal myiasis caused by the species often produces large wounds that heal very slowly; however, this blow fly is not considered as a significant myiasis fly and is rarely involved in myiasis. Although the economic damage inflicted by the fly is unknown, estimates depend on the quality of livestock care and the size of the fly population.
