All imports of live cattle, horses and bison from the southern border They have been prohibited Due to the spread of a pest of eating meat in Mexico, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) said Sunday.
“The protection of our animals and the security of the food supply of our nation is a national security issue of the utmost importance,” said USDA secretary Brooke Rollins, in a press release.
Cochliomyia hominivorax, the New World screw worm fly, is a kind of parasitic fly that is well known by the way in which its larvae (worms) eat living fabric.
Ramdan Fatoni/Getty images
The secretary cited New World Screwworm (NWS), a parasitic fly, such as the reason for the suspension of imports. The name refers to the way in which worms screw themselves into the tissue of animals with their sharp mouth hooks, causing extensive damage often lead to death.
Panama saw NWS infections increase between livestock from an average of 25 cases annually to more than 6,500 in 2023. Since then, the disease has spread further to the north, breaking a previously established barrier containing the plague of South America for decades, the USDA said.
Infections have been detected in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Belize.
The cattle are carried out in a corral before exporting to the United States through the border crossing of Jerónimo-Santa Teresa after the United States Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, announced an agreement with Mexico on the management of the new world of world screw, after a threat to stop the imports of Mexican cattle due to the out Ciudada Juarez, Mexico.
José Luis González/Reuters, Archive
More recently, a case was reported in Mexico at the end of last year, which also closed the border for the trade of living animals. Imports resumed earlier this year after an agreement between the United States and Mexico to mitigate the threat of the disease.
The continuous propagation and the threat of NWS led to the current closure, which will continue from a month to month, “until a significant containment window is achieved,” said the USDA. The disease was recently detected in remote farms to about 700 miles from the American border.
The eradication of the disease is possible through a technique in which the flies of the male screw worms are sterilized and then release to the environment to mate with females until the population goes out. This process was used to free the United States in the 1960s.
Eradication efforts showed estimated economic benefits of almost $ 800 million annually For American cattle producers in 1996, with an estimated $ 2.8 billion for the broader economy, according to USDA.
The Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, speaks to the media outside the White House, on May 5, 2025.
Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters, file
American agriculture officials are working to release sterile flies both in air and on land throughout parts of southern Mexico and in other regions of Central America.
“Once we see an increase in surveillance and eradication efforts, and the positive results of those actions, we remain committed to open the border for cattle trade,” Rollins said. “It is not about Mexico’s policy or punishment, but it is food and animal security.”
