The U.S. is once again banning livestock imports from Mexico after a case of New World screwworm was reported less 400 miles from the Southern Border. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins made the announcement late Wednesday night.
“The United States has promised to be vigilant — and after detecting this new NWS case, we are pausing the planned port reopenings to further quarantine and target this deadly pest in Mexico,” she said in a June 9 press release. “We must see additional progress combating NWS in Veracruz and other nearby Mexican states in order to reopen livestock ports along the Southern Border.”
The decision came one day after Mexico’s National Service of Agro-Alimentary Health, Safety and Quality reported a New World screwworm case near Ixhuatlan de Madero, Veracruz. That town of slightly less than 50,000 people is roughly 370 miles south of the Texas-Mexico border. It is also 160 miles north of where sterile flies are currently being dropped.
Sterile flies are a key tool in neutralizing the impact of New World screwworm.
Just this week, USDA began a phased reopening of the Southern Border to livestock trade. This after USDA closed the border in May following New World screwworm detections in Oaxaca and Veracruz. Those two Mexican states are less than 700 miles from the U.S. border. Rollins praised USDA staff for their efforts to monitor the situation.
“Thanks to the aggressive monitoring by USDA staff in the U.S. and in Mexico, we have been able to take quick and decisive action to respond to the spread of this deadly pest,” she said.
According to the June 9 press release, USDA is “holding Mexico accountable” by ensuring proactive measures are being taken to maintain a screwworm-free barrier. Those measures include stringent animal movement controls, surveillance, trapping and other measures intended to push New World screwworm farther south as quickly as possible.
National Cattlemen’s Beef Association CEO Colin Woodall praised Rollins for pushing Mexican officials to eradicate New World screwworm and removing “bureaucratic barriers” to increase surveillance and sterile fly flights.
“Unfortunately, screwworm continues to move north through Mexico and it’s clear that the United States needs a sterile fly facility of our own here at home,” Woodall said. “We cannot wait any longer and we urge USDA to immediately begin work on a sterile fly facility.”
Last month, USDA announced plans for a new sterile fly facility near Edinburg, Texas. At the time, Rollins said it could take up to three years for that facility to be completed.