US Reopening Phased Mexican Cattle Imports After Screwworm Closure

By Ryan Hanrahan

Reuters’ Karl Plume reported that “the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced on Monday a phased reopening of cattle, bison and equine imports from Mexico following a prolonged closure over the damaging pest New World screwworm.”

“Ports will reopen in phases as early as July 7, beginning with Douglas, Arizona, which the USDA said is the lowest risk entry point due to its location and the ‘long history of effective collaboration’ between officials in Sonora and USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service,” Plume reported. “The southern U.S. border was closed to imports of the animals on May 11 after screwworm, a species of fly that has been eradicated in the U.S. for decades, had been moving northward in Mexico. Additional ports in New Mexico and Texas may be reopened in coming weeks.”

“The pest can infest livestock and wildlife and carry maggots that burrow into the skin of living animals, causing serious and often fatal damage,” Plume reported. “As part of the country’s effort to fight screwworm encroachment, the USDA announced plans on June 18 to open a sterile fly dispersal facility in Texas, and invested $21 million in updating a plant in Mexico to produce sterile flies.”