Latest news with #cattleimports
The Independent
4 days ago
- Health
- The Independent
Photos of Mexican ranchers struggling to adapt as screwworm ravages their cattle exports to the US
The U.S. has suspended live cattle imports from Mexico due to concerns about the New World Screwworm, a flesh-eating parasite found in southern Mexico. This suspension has severely impacted ranchers like Martín Ibarra Vargas in Sonora, who are already struggling with drought. The U.S. Department of Agriculture calls the screwworm a 'devastating pest' and is taking measures to prevent its spread.
Associated Press
4 days ago
- Health
- Associated Press
Photos of Mexican ranchers struggling to adapt as screwworm ravages their cattle exports to the US
ZAMORA, Mexico (AP) — The U.S. has suspended live cattle imports from Mexico due to concerns about the New World Screwworm, a flesh-eating parasite found in southern Mexico. This suspension has severely impacted ranchers like Martín Ibarra Vargas in Sonora, who are already struggling with drought. The U.S. Department of Agriculture calls the screwworm a 'devastating pest' and is taking measures to prevent its spread.
The Independent
01-07-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Cattle imports into US resume after flesh-eating parasite fears
The United States and Mexico are set to gradually reopen their shared border to cattle imports from July, following a two-month suspension prompted by concerns over the northward spread of the screwworm. US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Mexico's Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development, Julio Berdegué, confirmed the decision on Monday, with the border set to begin opening on July 7. This followed a previous restriction on Mexican cattle shipments in late November due to the pest's detection, which was lifted in February after protocols were established for animal evaluation prior to entry. Secretary Rollins announced via X that "key progress" had been made in combating the pest. She highlighted that more than 100 million sterile flies are now being dispersed weekly, and crucially, there has been no northward spread of the screwworm in eight weeks. Mr Berdegué confirmed his participation in a virtual meeting with Secretary Rollins on Monday, where the July 7 reopening date was agreed upon. Both officials commended the close cooperation between their respective governments in addressing the issue. The US-Mexico border announcement in May came after the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) said the pest had been detected in Oaxaca and Veracruz, about 700 miles from the US border. The screwworm is a larva of the Cochliomyia hominivorax fly that can invade the tissues of any warm-blooded animal, including humans. The parasite enters the skin, causing serious and life-threatening damage and lesions. Attempts to eradicate the threat posed by the parasitic flies date back decades. The most successful effort in the 1960s and early 1970s involved releasing hundreds of millions of sterile adult flies that would mate with the females, ultimately preventing them from laying viable eggs. But there was nevertheless a major outbreak in Texas in 1976 that affected more than 1.4 million cattle and hundreds of thousands of sheep and goats. USDA analysis suggests that if such an outbreak were to happen again, it would cost the state's economy $1.8 billion.
The Independent
01-07-2025
- Health
- The Independent
After screwworm scare, US-Mexico border set to reopen for cattle imports
Mexico and the United States said they would gradually reopen the United States border to cattle imports from Mexico in July after U.S. agriculture officials suspended them in May over fears of the northward spread of the screwworm, agriculture officials in both countries said Monday. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said via X that 'key progress' had been made. She noted that more than 100 million sterile flies were being dispersed weekly and there had been no northward spread in eight weeks. The U.S. restricted Mexican cattle shipments in late November following the detection of the pest, but lifted the ban in February after protocols were put in place to evaluate the animals prior to entry into the country. But after an 'unacceptable northward advancement' of the screwworm, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a statement it was suspending them again in May. Mexico Agriculture and Rural Development Secretary Julio Berdegué said he participated in a virtual meeting with Rollins Monday and that the border opening would begin July 7. Rollins and Berdegué applauded the close cooperation between both governments. The screwworm is a larva of the Cochliomyia hominivorax fly that can invade the tissues of any warm-blooded animal, including humans. The parasite enters the skin, causing serious and life-threatening damage and lesions.
Reuters
28-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
US likely to resume Mexican cattle imports by year end, USDA chief veterinarian says
PARIS, May 28 (Reuters) - The United States will likely resume Mexican cattle imports by year-end, after a halt due to the spread in Mexico of the New World screwworm pest that can devastate livestock, the U.S. agriculture department's chief veterinarian said on Wednesday. Screwworm can infest livestock, wildlife, and in rare cases, people. Maggots from screwworm flies burrow into the skin of animals, causing serious and often fatal damage. The USDA indefinitely suspended cattle imports from Mexico this month, citing the pest's northward movement. "We want to make sure that we're comfortable that the way that they're doing surveillance gives us a good picture of what our risk level is for the fly continuing to move north," USDA's chief veterinary officer, Rosemary Sifford, told Reuters on the sidelines of the World Organisation for Animal Health's annual assembly in Paris. "It's hard to say exactly when, but (imports will resume) for sure before the end of the year, unless something really dramatically changes," Sifford said. No new cases of screwworm have been found farther north than one detected two weeks ago about 700 miles from the U.S.-Mexican border, Sifford said. A USDA mission will travel to Mexico in the coming days, Mexico's agriculture ministry said on Tuesday. Sifford also gave the end of the year as a "very last" deadline for controlling the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, in dairy cows. The virus has led to the deaths of over 173 million chickens, turkeys and other birds in the United States since 2022 and infected more than 1,000 dairy herds since 2024, USDA data show. Seventy people in the U.S. have also tested positive, mostly farm workers, since 2024, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "The only new (dairy) cases that we are seeing at this point are in states where we already have herds affected and are very much associated with biosecurity problems," Sifford said. "I'm not sure if (a full halt) will happen by the summer, but we're definitely on a steady path." For poultry flocks, the summer should be "quiet" for infections, with the number of outbreaks falling in recent weeks, Sifford said. Wild birds can transmit the virus to poultry flocks, which are then culled to contain outbreaks. "We are not seeing introductions from wild birds, so we are expecting a quiet summer," Sifford said.
